Against All Odds
by DeredithOTP
Summary: Sequel to Hiding in Shadows. Not original writer. This story belongs to Seph, I am just posting it on this site. Characters belong to Shonda Rhimes. Enjoy!
1. Against All Odds

**Welcome to the sequel to Hiding In Shadows. If you have not read Hiding In Shadows, you are gonna be lost. If you have, here you go.**

_**Again, I did not write this, a wonderful writer did. I am just posting this on this site**_

**Against All Odds**

"Think he's going to wet his pants?" Cristina asked, her tone bored.

She was leaning with her elbows placed on the nurse's desk, her expression thoughtful.

Meredith glanced over to where Dr. Jackson Avery was visibly trembling in his sneakers.

"Yep." She replied, her tone matching Cristina's as she returned to writing in the chart before her.

"Think we should go save him?" Cristina asked.

"Nope." Meredith said.

"Yeah, you're right. Let McDreamy do his thing." Cristina agreed, returning her attention to where Dr. Derek 'McDreamy' Shepherd was ripping Dr. Avery a new asshole.

Meredith smiled at the mention of her fiance's nickname. It fit…now. Two years ago? Not so much. He had been the bain of her existence and everyone else's as well. Who would have thought she would be the one to thaw him out? Little ole mousey Meredith Grey…well, before the makeover.

Both had troubling pasts. Hers much more violent than his. They had been through a lot…screaming, groaning, moaning, yelling…and that was just the sex…

No seriously, a lot of heartbreak, honesty, persistence and therapy had led them to where they were today. Engaged medical professionals with an eighteen month old son.

Michael.

Meredith's grin grew bigger at the thought of her son. He was the perfect balance of the two of them…Derek's looks and her personality. Poor kid. He was a curious, thriving child with eyes that took in everything. He was a charmer.

"I'm still keeping Squirt tonight, right?" Cristina asked, breaking Meredith out of her thoughts.

Meredith rolled her eyes at the nickname her best friend had given Michael, after Michael had 'christened' Cristina while she was changing his diaper. Speaking of charming, Michael had charmed Cristina right out of her fear and blatant dislike of children and now she kept him more than anyone, much to Meredith's amusement and Derek's dismay. He didn't trust anyone with Michael, not even Meredith sometimes.

He was overprotective to say the least.

"Can you believe that guy? Who does he think he is? All I did was tell it like it was to the patient. What the hell is wrong with that?" Jackson grumbled as he scurried back to Meredith and Cristina. He was their responsibility. Great.

Meredith and Cristina looked at each other and rolled their eyes. This guy was a jackass with a capital ASS.

"This is your first day Dr. Avery and so far you have managed to piss off the patient, us and an attending. Not bad." Cristina said, shaking your head.

Jackson shrugged and turned his focus on Meredith, staring intently.

She felt his intense gaze on her and she glanced at him, her eyebrow raised.

"What?" She barked.

"You are hot. Has anyone ever told you that?" He asked smoothly.

"Yes." She said shortly.

"I was wondering, would you like to go out with me?" He asked.

"No." She answered.

"Oh, are you one of those chicks who doesn't like company pens stuck in her ink?" He said crudely.

Cristina snorted and then her eyes lit up with glee. Meredith looked at her curiously.

"Do you talk to everyone like that Dr. Avery or just your superiors? You don't pick up a woman that way. Allow me to show you how it's done." Derek said, his eyes dark and his attitude darker. Nothing pissed him off more than someone flirting with her. He wore jealousy well.

"Dr. Grey?" He said, his voice seductive.

She turned fully to him.

"Yes, Dr. Shepherd?" She said innocently.

"Can I interest you in some extra curricular activities in the on call room?" He said, his eyes now full of mischief.

Meredith struggled to keep her face straight as she cocked her head to the side and pretended to consider his offer.

"Okay." She said, smiling lustfully at him.

He looked to Jackson, who looked stunned.

"That's how it's done Dr. Avery.." Derek grinned darkly at him. He walked closer to Jackson and leaned very close to his ear. "My pen is the only one who goes near her company ink. Don't ever forget that and please feel free to spread the word to the rest of your incompetent friends."

He then turned to Meredith, extending his hand to her.

"Come on, I believe we have a date with Michael."

She smiled widely at him and took his offered hand. Derek shot one last smug look at Jackson before walking off with Meredith.

Jackson looked at Cristina.

"Who's Michael? They do threesomes?" He asked confused.

"No, Michael is their son. Since this is a teaching hospital let me teach you a little lesson right now. Don't flirt with Dr. Grey. She is attached. Consider yourself taught."

"Yeah, that is information that would've been useful yesterday." Jackson rolled his eyes.

Cristina shrugged.

"You weren't here yesterday." She said simply.

"So Dr. Yang…I believe there is more than one on call room in this hospital." Jackson hinted.

Cristina looked him up and down and then back to his face.

"Not even with someone else's pussy. Get to work Dr. Avery." Cristina demanded, walking away.

She sighed in satisfaction.

She loved fresh meat.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute." Derek complained as they walked towards the hospital's day care center.

Meredith laughed and squeezed his hand.

"I know the feeling. Dr. April Kepler?"

Derek rolled his eyes.

"She has an interest in Neuro. I am teaching her, nothing more.."

"Oh the post particle screws are a great idea Dr. Kepler. Book the OR." She mimicked his voice.

"It was a good idea. Doesn't make her any less of a kiss ass though. Why, are you jealous?" He explained.

"No. I don't get jealous."

He leveled a look at her.

"Much." She amended.

"That's what I thought." He said, his tone satisfied.

She glared at him.

"Happy?" She asked.

"Yes, very." He said, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head.

She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tightly.

"Let's go eat lunch with our son." She said.

"Son? You have a son?"

They both froze and looked at each other before turning and looking at the person who the intrusive voice belonged to.

"What the hell are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Addison, I am going to ask you again. What are you doing here?" Derek asked, his tone low and very deadly.

Meredith shivered. It had been a very long time since this Derek had come out.

"Well, you would know if you had bothered to return any one of my phone calls." Addison said smugly.

Meredith looked at him in shock. Addison had called him and he didn't tell her?

"Hello, Mary is it? Nice to see you trapped him with a baby. Looks like we aren't so different after all." Addison said shrewdly.

Meredith raised an eyebrow and took a very deliberate step forward. Addison stepped back with a small amount of worry appearing in her blue eyes. Derek placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. Meredith shook it off.

"Let me make one fucking thing very clear right now. I don't know why you are here or what you want, but I am nothing like you. I love Derek and together we made a child…a perfect son. And also unlike you, Michael is Derek's." She seethed.

"You sure about that?" Addison asked.

Meredith thrust forward and Derek wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her forcibly back.

"Meredith. Mer. Calm down." He said soothingly to her. He turned to Addison.

"I suggest you leave, before I let her beat you to a pulp with her tiny ineffectual fists." He hissed to her.

"Hmmm…well do you know what I think about that?" Addison drawled.

Derek ignored her, still tending to Meredith.

"If you didn't care about me, you would've let her and since you didn't, I can only assume that a part of you still cares about what happens to me." She surmised.

Derek looked at her incredulously as Meredith glanced between the two, her teeth worrying her lip.

"The part of me that cared anything about you died the day you fucked Mark. So don't delude yourself in thinking I care anything about you. They only person I care about between the three of us is Meredith. I don't want her getting in trouble. Now, if you are here thinking you are going to get me back, you are sadly mistaken." He growled.

"Yes, I flew all the way out here to get you drunk, reminisce over old wedding photos and fall into bed." He glared at her sharply. She rolled her eyes. "Relax Derek, I am here for work, the hospital admitted a TTTS case last week and from the briefing that Richard gave me…"

"Richard knew you were coming?" Derek asked harshly while Meredith gaped.

"Yes, didn't he tell you?." She paused, taking in their expressions. "Hmmm…guess not. Well I should get acquainted with the hospital before starting tomorrow."

She smiled once again and walked to Derek, leaning in.

"We should get together while I am here. Catch up." She whispered. She smiled again when she heard Meredith suck in a breath. She glanced at her. "It was…nice seeing you again Mary."

"It's Meredith." Meredith said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever." Addison waved her off and smiled once more at Derek before waltzing off.

"I want to stab her in the eye with one of her stilettos." Meredith hissed.

"Mer, I didn't know…"

"She called you." Meredith stated.

Derek sighed.

"Yes." He admitted.

"You didn't tell me."

"No, but I didn't feel it was important. I didn't answer. I deleted her voice mails without listening to them. I swear."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Meredith asked point blank.

"I didn't want to upset you." He said.

"Well it's a little late for that, don't you think? She is here, in our hospital, with all her wicked witchiness." Meredith complained.

"I will get her to fly out of here as soon as possible on her broomstick, either with her riding it or stuck up her snooty ass, I promise." Derek said.

Meredith cracked a small smile.

"There it is. I hate when you are unhappy." Derek said, holding her close. "Let's go, we only have a few minutes."

She pulled back.

"Look, I'm not that hungry anymore. Why don't you go on ahead without me. My surgery starts in a little while and I want to prep. Give Michael a kiss for me….okay?" She said, trying to smile convincingly.

He looked at her searchingly, looking for any signs of discord. He finally nodded slowly.

"Okay." He kissed her firmly on the lips and jogged off towards the day care.

The smile fell off of Meredith's face. This was not good, this was not good at all. Addison being here was going to threaten everything she cherished. She didn't have a clue what to do.

She just knew she couldn't lose Derek.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know Tinkerbell. I don't read minds. Hey do you think we can get your physic from our intern year here to find out?" Cristina said with mock earnesty.

"Very funny. Seriously, look at her."

"I am looking. Maybe, she's gone mental."

"Mer? Have you gone mental?"

"I have not gone mental." Meredith snapped.

"Well, what is it then?" Izzie asked.

"Addison is here." Meredith stated matter of factly.

"Who's that?" Izzie asked.

"McDreamy's McBitch?" Cristina gasped.

"I told you to stop calling me that Yang."

Cristina rolled her eyes at Mark, who joined the conversation, grinning charmingly.

"Oh, right. That is your nickname. Hmmm…now I have to find a new one for her. Any ideas?"

"Her who?" Mark asked.

"Oh, you're a gossip now?" Izzie asked.

"Yep, need to stay on top off who has any communicable diseases." Mark replied. He looked at Meredith.

"What's wrong with her? She usually has insulted me at least four times by now."

"Someone named Addison is here?" Izzie told him, still confused.

Mark's head snapped up.

"Addison is here?" He asked Meredith.

She nodded listlessly.

"Why?"

Meredith shrugged.

"She says work. Richard, my Richard asked her here." She replied. "The man I have known for as long as I can remember, who has been there for me, asked Derek's ex-wife to come here for work. What did I ever do to him? I know what I am going to do to him."

Mark winced.

"I feel sorry for the Chief." Mark muttered to Cristina and Izzie.

"Definitely." They agreed simultaneously.


	3. Chapter 3

"Richard, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Derek demanded as he stormed into his office. He stopped short when he saw Addison sitting in front of his desk, laughing. His jaw tightened.

Richard raised his eyebrow and they both stopped laughing.

"You were saying?" He prompted.

Derek remained silent, avoiding Addison's gaze. She cleared her throat.

"Well, I will be here bright and early tomorrow morning." She told Richard, leaning over to kiss him on his cheek. She walked out without a backward glance at Derek. Derek moved to shut the door.

Richard sat back calmly, his fingers arched.

"What…you called her?" Derek asked. "Why would you do that to me?"

"This isn't about you Derek, this is about my hospital. You know Addie is the best in her field. I am not about to compromise a patient's care based on your love life."

"This isn't just my life, it's Mer's too."

Richard flinched.

"Yeah, do you know I had to hold Meredith back from going all cage fighter on Addison?" Derek sighed and thrust a hand through his hair. "Do you have any idea what this could do to her, to us, to Michael? We are happy."

"And Addie shouldn't threaten that. Not if you two are truly strong and happy…you just have to…" He stopped as the door slammed open and rattled as it hit the wall behind it. His eyes widened.

"I thought you were my friend, I thought you were my family. Is this what you do to family?" Meredith yelled.

Derek looked smugly at Richard and stepped aside to let Meredith rant. He had learned when she got angry, you got out of the way, unless it was directed at you and in that case, you stood there and took it. Apparently Richard didn't know that.

"Like I was telling Derek, this is not personal, this is business." Richard defended. Um…dude, wrong move.

"Not personal? Not personal?!…this is very personal to me, to us. This is my life you are threatening. She wants one thing…Derek and she will not stop until she does everything she can to get him or to make him completely miserable."

"Again, when you are here, you are here as my employee, not my goddaughter. There is no room for personal when you are saving lives." He yelled back.

"Since when do you ever care about being professional? You are always favoring me even when I tell you not too. So don't give me that bullshit when it suits you." Meredith spat back.

"This conversation is over. Get back to work. She is staying temporarily. End of discussion."

Something caught Meredith's eye and she suddenly smiled smugly.

"Oh, is it really?" She asked.

Richard looked confused...until his door slammed open...again.

"Richard Webber, what have you done?"

Richard groaned and glared at his goddaughter.

"You called my wife?" He asked incredulously.

Meredith smiled.

"You called his." She replied haughtily.

"I'm waiting." Adele said, her hands on her hips and her foot taping the floor.

Richard swallowed audibly and smiled fakely.

"I was just explaining that I didn't mean anything by it. It was a business decision, pure and simple." He explained.

"It was a business decision to call up Derek's ex wife and have her come out here, knowing it would not only upset him, but it would probably devastate Meredith, who has a son to take care of. A son, might I add, that I love very much. That you love very much. Is that about it?" She asked.

"I stand by my decision. I will try to keep you all away from each other and I suggest you do the same. It is only for a week. Okay?" Richard asked desperately. He was going to have a nervous breakdown if one more person yelled at him.

"What the hell is going on here? You asked Addison to come here? Do you know what she did to me?" Mark demanded, stalking into the open office.

Richard groaned.

"Get out! All of you, get out! I am not talking about this anymore. Good bye! Now!" He yelled.

"I know you are not talking to me." Adele hissed.

"No, of course not Dear. Mark, Meredith, Derek…please for the love of God, get to work."

They all shot him one last glare and Meredith leaned over to kiss Adele's cheek. The three doctors all left the room.

Silence.

Richard smiled contentedly.

"I would wipe that smile off of your face right about now." She said.

His phone rang and he leapt to answer it. Please be a bad accident, he prayed. Get him out of here.

"Richard Webber." He said.

"Would you like to tell me why my daughter called me in tears while ago? Something about you inviting the Wicked Witch of the West to Seattle Grace? What have you done?"

Ellis Grey.

Perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

"What did you tell him?" Meredith asked, cradling her phone to her shoulder while taking the food out of the take out bags.

"I told him that he was a disgrace to treat my daughter that way and that I couldn't believe he didn't use his brain while making such a poor business decision. His excuses were asinine, his manner inconsiderate and his brain lacking. He stuttered a bit and then I told him to fix it before I fixed it for him." Ellis ranted.

"So in other words, you Ellis'd him?" She asked.

"Yes. How are you doing by the way? Better than earlier?" Ellis asked.

Meredith leaned back against her kitchen counter, smiling softly. Things had certainly changed from the way they were years ago. Used to be, her mother and her couldn't be in the same place for twenty seconds without yelling, but since the second attack with Matt…

Meredith shook herself out of that dark place and focused again on talking to her mother.

"Yeah. Thanks again. I didn't want to bring you into it, but I was just so…pissed. Richard had to know what this would do to us."

"Are you worried that Derek would go back to her?" Ellis asked.

Meredith chewed on her lip.

"No. He loves me. It's just, I don't want him to go to that dark place again. He was destroyed when I met him and I never want him to feel that way again. We have been happy. We are happy." She asserted. She smiled softly when Michael toddled in the kitchen, a toy car in his chubby little hand. He smiled a toothy little grin at her and plopped down on his butt and moved the car back and forth.

"Vroom, vroom." as he made car noises.

"Mer?"

"Oh sorry Mom. Michael distracted me." She told Ellis.

"And what is my big boy doing?" Ellis cooed. She paused. "You didn't hear that."

Meredith bit back a chuckle.

"Hear what? That sickly sweet high pitched voice you use while discussing your only grandchild? Is that what you are talking about?" She asked innocently.

"Shut up." Ellis snarked.

"Ah there is the mother I grew up with."

"Don't sass me young lady." Ellis said, but Meredith could hear the laughter in her voice.

"When are you coming to me?" Meredith asked.

"Who says I am coming to see you?"

"Okay when are coming to see Michael?" Meredith corrected.

"Very soon. I feel the need to 'Ellis' Richard in person." Ellis said.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" Meredith sang obnoxiously.

"Meredith, stick to cutting. Stay away from things like singing and cooking."

"Will do." Meredith noticed Michael playing with something other than his car. "No Michael leave Mommy's lipstick alone! Mom, I have to go, Michael got in my purse and is trying to make himself prettier than he already is."

"Okay Meredith, I will talk to you later. And don't let that bitch make you doubt your relationship with Derek."

"I won't Mom. Bye." Meredith hung up the phone and crossed over to where Michael was drawing on himself. "That was Mommy's favorite lip gloss." She told him.

He giggled.

"You think that's funny, do you?" She asked.

What's funny?" Derek asked, kissing her on the cheek. Meredith pointed to Michael.

"Hey Mich…Oh no, that won't do." He crouched down to Michael's level. "Boys don't wear makeup."

He looked up at Meredith panicked.

"What if he is trying to tell us something? Not that I would care if he were…you know, but what if."

Meredith rolled her eyes.

"He isn't even two yet. We can worry if he starts wearing my shoes and borrowing my clothes." She mocked.

Derek laughed and picked up Michael.

"Let's go get you cleaned up so we can eat the delicious food your Mommy…um... bought." Derek told him.

She swatted his arm.

"I have you know it took a lot for me to get that food." She told him.

"Oh yeah Mer, it is so hard to pick up food already cooked and to take it out of bags. My apologies." He said sarcastically.

Meredith felt her smile falter.

"Did she cook for you?" She whispered.

Derek reached over and caressed her cheek with the hand that wasn't holding Michael.

"Hey now. None of that. Don't compare yourself to her. Our relationship, our love…I never even came close to feeling that with her. But no, she didn't cook. She once was put in charge of Thanksgiving dinner and she gave Nancy food poisoning with her half cooked turkey. I had to make fifty hotdogs just so we could eat."

Meredith giggled.

"See, there are advantages to ordering a catered meal." She pointed out.

"You are so right." He pulled her up against his body. "Not many dishes to wash. Just rinse, put in the dishwasher and throw away the trash. More time for…other delectable things." He said huskily.

"Yeah…other things." She said, dazed. She shook her head to clear it. "Well what are you waiting for? You and Pretty Boy here go get cleaned up so we can get to doing those things." She demanded.

"Yes ma'am." He saluted her and practically ran up the stairs.

She watched him leave and then sat the table. She felt better, he saw to that. She would get through this.

She loved him.

He loved her.

They both loved Michael.

Soon Addison would be on her way and then everything would go back to the way it was.

Right?


	5. Chapter 5

Meredith ran down to the Pit and stopped, taking in the scene. She wasn't sure where she was needed but she had been paged 911.

"Oomph." She grunted. She turned to glare at the intern that had just practically ran her over.

"Sorry Dr. Grey. I didn't…I mean…sorry."

"If you could please watch what you are doing Mr. Mostow." She said.

"Um, it's Dr."

"Not until I say it is, it isn't." She countered.

Mostow swallowed hard but nodded.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Grey! Over here!" Bailey yelled. She pointed to the ambulance pulling in.

The ambulanced rushed to a stop and two paramedics barreled out with a woman on a stretcher in tow.

"What have we got?" Meredith asked, unthreading her stethoscope from around her neck.

"Twenty-five year old pregnant white female, approximately twenty-eight weeks gestation involved in a MVA. T-boned on her side of the car, unconscious at the scene, BP is 87 over 42, pulse is 37, shallow breath sounds on right side." The paramedic barked out.

"Okay, let's move people. Mostow, take some blood and run to the lab and wait on it, Kepler, inform Radiology that we will be on our way in five minutes. Avery, you are with me. Go!"

They all scurried to do their jobs.

"Do we have a name?" Meredith asked.

"Molly Thompson."

"Okay. Molly, can you hear me? I am Dr. Meredith Grey and we are going to do the best we can for you." She said loudly. "What about the other passengers?" She asked.

"Mother was in the driver's side. They were cutting her out as we left, but she was conscious."

Meredith nodded.

"Okay, thanks guys."

"Avery, I need you to page Neonatal and get someone down here to look at the baby."

Avery nodded and rushed to the phone, dialing quickly.

She pulled out her penlight and pried Molly's eyes open, searching for reactivity.

"Is there Neuro damage?"

Meredith looked at Avery, her eyebrow raised.

"Oh, Neo is on the way." He informed her.

"Both pupils are reactive. Hopefully there is no bleed. We need to get a CT though as soon as The Vagina Squad is done accessing to make sure there is no internal bleeding anywhere."

"The Vagina Squad? How charming."

Meredith stifled a groan as she turned to face The Intruder.

"Yes, well, if the pussy fits." She mocked.

Avery snorted but cleared his throat quickly when both woman looked at him.

"Something in my throat." He explained.

"Get a drink of water." Meredith ordered.

"And miss this?" He asked incredulously.

Another look.

"Water, yeah…going." He said, leaving the room. Oh to be a fly on the wall right now. Two hot women glaring at each other…wow.

"Wow the hostility is just radiating off of you. Gives you a red kind of glow." Addison said.

"Yeah well I could say the same for the sluttiness coming off of you. Tried to pass any more babies off as someone else's lately?" Meredith asked.

Addison narrowed her eyes.

"You don't know anything about me." She hissed.

"Oh contraire, I know plenty. But you know that, don't you? I mean this isn't the first time we have been in the same room without Derek. Remember when I called you out on your shit at the family dinner? Hmmm…yes, that was very entertaining." Meredith reminded her.

"You bitch!" Addison yelled.

"That may be true, but I am the bitch that has Derek. And you are the bitter, pissed off ex-wife. So…you really are not important in the grand scheme of things." Meredith shrugged.

"Take a long look at me Meredith. Because this." She pointed to herself. "That you see right here? This is going to be you in the very near future. I have learned from my mistakes and I will get Derek back. Make no mistake about that." She said.

Meredith was frozen with anger so stout that she was having trouble breathing. It was taking everything she had to not wrap her hands around her throat and throttling her.

"You will never get Derek. But if you think you can, please bring it on. Because what Derek and I have is based on mutual trust and love. There is no way you could ever come between us. I am the love of his life." Meredith boasted.

"We will see about that. Now if you will excuse me, I have a patient to attend to." Addison said haughtily.

"Of course, be my guest Dr. Montgomery. I will see you in the CT room." She said sweetly as a nurse came in to assist.

"Looking forward to it Dr. Grey."

Meredith walked out with her head held high, trying not to scream at the top of her lungs in frustration.

"Any bloodshed?"

She focused her eyes on Avery.

"Did you get that water?" She asked him.

Avery smiled sheepishly.

"You hate her. But she is new, just got here yesterday." He mused. "I sense a story there."

"Mind your own business Avery." She growled.

"Will do Grey." He watched her walk away. "For now."

****

Derek walked into the stifled room and stopped short at the scene displayed in it. Meredith was standing, fists clenched, two feet from Addison, sending death glares her way and Addison was sitting, calmly and smugly, waiting for the images to appear on the screen. Avery was standing close to Meredith, his glance darting to her every ten seconds. So basically, his ex-wife, his future wife, and the man who wanted to sleep with his future wife. Add in the poor Radiology technician who obviously wanted to get out of there and you had one room Derek didn't want to go in. However, he manned up.

"What do we have here?" He asked, casually as he walked in to the room.

"Hell." The technician muttered.

Derek felt for him.

"We have a…" Meredith started.

"Twenty five year old pregnant woman who was involved in a MVA. Arrived unconscious but the baby looks good so far." Addison interrupted.

"Okay…any signs of neurological damage other than the unconciousness?"

"Her pupi…" Addison said.

"Do you mind? Are you a Neurosurgeon? No. You look at twats all day so if you don't mind letting me update Derek on the status of the patient's brain and maybe becoming a lesbian, I would greatly appreciate it." Meredith ranted.

She looked at him.

"Pupils were reactive to stimuli and there are no other signs to show of long term damage. As she said we are waiting for the scans." Meredith told him.

"Thanks." He smiled at her, reaching out to touch her cheek.

"Oh, isn't this cozy? Can I join? Or are you not into threesomes?" Addison asked.

Avery cleared his throat and Meredith shot him a glare.

"Sorry." He said.

Derek glared at him too, for completely different reasons. He doesn't know why this guy wouldn't take a hint but he was about to show him, physically, how to.

"Scans up…thank God." The tech said.

They all leaned forward to glance at the images and as Meredith rested her hand on the table, Addison elbowed it out of the way.

Oh. Hell. No.

Meredith sprung forward, hands out and grabbed some of Addison's red mane and yanked. Every happened quickly then. Derek, who in between them by that point, restrained Addison's hands and Avery grabbed Meredith by the waist and pulled her backwards towards the door, putting space between them.

"You pulled my hair!" Addison screeched. "I am going to have you tossed out on your ass Grey."

"You hit me first!"

"Ha! Prove it!"

"I saw you." Avery said, in Meredith's defense, still holding her close.

Derek noticed his proximity to Meredith and growled.

"I suggest you take your hands off of her or you will be needing surgery." He warned.

"You first." Avery said.

Derek realized he still had his hands around Addison and pulled away quickly. Avery let Meredith go. Everyone was breathing heavy in the tense mood of the room.

"We have a patient we need to fix, so if we could get on with it please." Meredith said, quickly composing herself.

"Dr. Grey is right." Avery said. Meredith shot him a grateful smile. She went to the screen.

"See there? She has a small bleed in her frontal lobe. It should repair itself. Two broken ribs on her right side, but as far as everything else goes…she should heal nicely." She surmised.

"Excellent Dr. Grey." Derek purred.

She turned to smile at him.

"Ugh, gag me. Dr. Grey, why don't you see about getting the patient while I talk to Dr. Shepherd?" Addison suggested.

Meredith looked at Avery and nodded.

"I'll just go get the patient." He said unnecessarily.

Meredith grinned at Addison.

"That is why we have interns." She told her.

"Well aren't you just a…"

"Enough!"

They all looked at Richard.

"All of you, in my office, now!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Now I want to know what the hell is going on and I want to know now!"

The Chief stopped ranting and looked at the four of them.

Meredith was the first to respond.

"Hmmm…let's see. You invited The Ruler of All Things Evil to Seattle, thus threatening to ruin my life, Derek's life and Michael's life. She has no regard for anyone other than herself and she instigated the whole situation back there."

"I did not! You pulled my hair!"

"You knocked my arm of the table. I wasn't bothering you!" Meredith ranted.

"You called me a pussy!"

"I'm sorry, I meant to call you a bitch!"

"Enough!" The Chief yelled.

Meredith and Addison turned their attention to him, both pissed.

"Now you two are adults. It is time to act like it. Now this decision was not in anyway personal…"

"Not personal! It's personal to me!" Meredith yelled.

"This hospital has no room for your personal lives…period. Now you are all going to go out there and act like you are the best of friends until the minute you leave this hospital. Or Addison can leave…"

"Fine by me." Meredith muttered.

"And you can be suspended." Richard finished.

Meredith looked at Richard in shock. Addison smiled smugly.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes." He turned to Addison. "And you can wipe that smug look off of your face. So kindergarten rules."

"And what exactly are those?" Addison asked.

"No biting, no hitting, no spitting, no pulling of the hair…" He said with a pointed look at Meredith. "…and learn to share your toys."

Meredith shot up out of her chair.

"Share our toys? But our 'toy' is Derek…"

"Hey." He objected.

She put her hand up to quiet him.

"And I am not sharing my 'toy'. She put the toy out on the curb for the trash collectors and I rescued it from the garbage dump. My toy."

Avery snickered.

"Why are you even here?" She asked him.

"Hey the Chief dragged my ass up here with you three…" He shot a look at Derek, who was glaring at him and quickly amended. "…two crazy people. I didn't do anything but keep you from killing someone. You can thank me later."

"Don't hold your breath. On second thought, do hold it. I will let you know when to stop." She said.

"Okay that's enough. I have had women yelling at me nonstop for over twenty four hours and I am tired and I have a headache and for the first time in twenty seven years, I want a drink but I can't drink because I am an alcoholic so I need everyone to get the hell out now. Goodbye and good riddance." Richard ordered.

Derek grasped Meredith's elbow and led her out, with Addison and Jackson close behind.

"Well that was entertaining." Jackson said.

"Yeah, well at least you said something." Meredith said with a pointed look at Derek.

"What did you want me to say?" He asked.

"Oh I don't know, something along the lines of 'Addison needs to get her broomstick and ride it out of here'."

"Richard is right. There is no room for personal here. You want to rant and rave, do it at home." Derek said.

Meredith backed away from Derek, jerking her arm from his grip.

"Yeah maybe I will do that." She shook her head and turned to Jackson. "Avery, let's go check on Mrs. Thompson."

"Sure thing." Avery said. He shot a grin at Derek as he followed her.

"Well that was interesting." Addison purred.

"What do you want?" Derek asked, moving away from her.

"I am just here to work. I told you that." She said, acting surprised.

"Yeah I know what you told me and know I want to know the truth." Derek said.

"I am telling you the truth. I am not here to cause trouble for you, I swear. I have a week here and then I am gone." She told him.

"Make sure you are."

She watched him walk away. She was gone as far as he knew. However, that OB attending looked mighty pregnant. They would need someone to fill in for her for a couple of months and suddenly she knew just the person for the job.


	7. Chapter 7

Meredith woke up at three am, alone. She reached over sleepily and felt nothing but cold sheets. Suddenly, the previous day's events came rushing back to her and she groaned. She rubbed her hands over her face harshly to wake up and sat up slowly. She padded down the stairs quietly after quickly checking on a sleeping Michael. She stopped just inside the living room and gazed down at a sleeping Derek on their too short couch. This was her version of the doghouse. She had only banished him to it once, during one of her pregnant hormonal rampages. Since then, she had never slept without him unless they had to work, and she wasn't about to start now, especially over someone like Addison.

She moved closer to him and ran her fingers through his mussed up hair. Her ring caught on a few strands and he jerked awake.

"I know you're mad but don't hurt the hair." He murmured huskily.

"Sorry." She whispered and they both knew she wasn't talking about his hair.

"It's okay. I understand. I really do, but she can't hurt us unless we let her. She will be gone soon." He said.

She looked around the room of her childhood home, thinking of all the happiness that had been contained in these four walls in the past two years.

"What if she doesn't go away? What if she is here to stay?' Meredith asked.

"Once she realizes that I am completely and totally in love with you, she will leave." He promised.

"And are you?" Meredith asked him.

"Am I what?"

"Completely and totally in love with me?" She asked.

"Uh…you're alright." He teased.

Meredith smacked him on his bare chest.

"Ouch." He said laughingly as he held her hand there, over his heart.

"Do you feel this?" He asked her.

She nodded, feeling the steady beat of his heart.

"This beats for you. All of me, every part of me, is yours. Aren't you lucky?" He teased.

"Yes." She whispered.

He shook his head.

"No, I am the lucky one. I don't deserve you. After all I put you through, for me to be here with you now, couch notwithstanding of course, is just amazing to me." He told her earnestly.

Meredith moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you." She murmured.

His grip on her tightened and he kissed her neck and inhaled deeply, breathing in her succulent scent.

"I love you too. So much."

She leaned back to look at him.

"Show me." She demanded softly.

His eyes darkened with lust as he brought her lips down to mingle with his, sliding his tongue over her bottom lip before sucking it lightly. She moaned loudly and was instantly embarrassed. If just that one kiss did that to her then she sure hoped Michael was sleeping soundly tonight.

"Hmmm…I love knowing what I do to you." He murmured as he nipped lightly at her clavicle. He quickly threw off her shirt and moved down lower and chuckled against her bare breast when she grabbed his hair and tugged roughly. She always made fun of his hair, but she couldn't keep her hands out of it during sex. He was surprised he had any left after some of their more ardent lovemaking.

He bit down lightly on her nipple, making her arch her back. She leaned back until she was lying down and he quickly settled more comfortably in between her legs. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him to her, kissing him fiercely. She wrapped her legs around his waist, fitting her feet into the waistband of his pajama bottoms and forcing them down his legs. He lifted up enough to get them all the way off before getting back into position, his hard throbbing member grazing against her thigh. She moaned as his fingers found her dripping wetness, caressing her outer lips before plunging into her warm depths.

"Hmmm…so good." She groaned, as he started moving his fingers in and out. She started to push against his movements, her moans getting louder and louder.

"Ung…I am so…just…please…so close." She begged.

He smiled at her, pushing his fingers deeply inside of her and curling them to graze on the rough patch near her cervix. She immediately came undone, riding Derek's fingers until she was lax against the couch, panting with a silly grin on her face. He loved watching her cum, it was one of the most beautiful sights ever gracing his eyes. Knowing that he did that to her, that he made her feel ecstasy, filled him with pride.

"That…incredible…no words." She gasped.

"There certainly aren't." He agreed.

"You know what would make this better?" She asked.

"No…what?" He asked.

"You inside me." She said, and if possible he got harder than what he already was, and that was saying something.

"Your wish is my command." He teased, lining his cock up against her warmth. She raised her hips and he slipped in, just an inch or two, before pulling out. She made a sound of disappointment and whined when he did. He did it again, only going in a little deeper. And again…

Finally she couldn't take it and wrapped her long legs around him and pressed her heels in his ass, connecting them completely.

"Oh God, yes." She moaned loudly.

He moved in and out, slowly at first until her yells and screams spurred him on and he went faster and deeper, his breaths coming in shallow intervals. He had to remember to breath at one point, the pleasure overwhelming him. She was so tight and warm and wet and she enveloped him completely, mind, body and soul. They connected on so many levels and it made him fall even more in love with her every time.

He felt her tighten around him, rapidly milking him, as she freefell into her orgasm, screaming loudly, bringing him over the edge with her. He collapsed on her, trying to catch his breath.

"Best sex ever." She gasped out.

He nodded in agreement.

"In under thirty minutes. You are good." She teased.

He raised his head to look at the grandfather clock. 3:32am.

"That would almost be insulting, if I hadn't made you cum…twice…loudly. You know, when Michael gets older, we have to get you a gag or something or he will be going to see Kathryn."

Meredith smiled at the mention of their long time shrink.

"She would just give him cookies and money and tell him he was perfect." She said.

"True." He admitted, settling into the couch and holding her tight. They remained that way for several minutes, just basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

Finally Meredith shifted uncomfortably.

"Why are we lying on this stupid couch when we have a queen size bed upstairs?" She asked.

"Cause I am forty years old and I can't recover as fast as I once could." He said.

She giggled and got up, extending her hand to him.

"Well come on Old Man. Let's get you upstairs so you can get some sleep. Wouldn't want to have to admit you to Geriatrics tomorrow." She teased.

He admired her naked form for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

"Old? Geriatrics? I will show you old." He got up quickly and she backed away, squealing. She ran up the stairs with him on her heels.

He wondered if he would ever get tired of chasing her.

He found her spread eagle on the center of their bed, her eyes hooded with desire. She crooked her finger at him in invitation.

Definitely not.


	8. Chapter 8

Meredith shuffled down the hall towards the nurse's station. She took the chart offered by the nurse with a smile, which quickly turned into a wince. She continued shuffling until she had reached the end of the desk and set her chart down. She shifted uncomfortably and read the patient's information. She felt eyes on her and she looked up to find Alex, Cristina and Avery looking at her, eyebrows raised.

"What?" She asked.

"Do you have a stick stuck up your ass?" Cristina asked.

"No." Meredith said.

"Have you at any point in the last twenty four hours had a stick up your ass?" Alex asked.

"Not up my ass. I only do anal on alternate Tuesdays." Meredith smirked and closed the chart.

Avery choked on his coffee and spewed it all over the counter….and Alex.

Alex looked at him with a intimidating glare.

"Nice, dude. I always wanted Intern…cooties."

Now all eyes were on Alex.

"What? I couldn't think of another word. Stop looking at me like that. You should be looking at Mer, who had a stick stuck up her twat all of last night."

All eyes turned back to Meredith.

"It wasn't a stick, it was a big, hard, long…"

"You can stop right there, Grey. I don't want to know what or who was all up in your business. Speaking of business, do you four think you can do some work? Or do we pay you to stand here talking about Grey's nasty sex life?"

"Bailey! You're back!" Alex exclaimed, stepping forward and enveloping her into a hug. Bailey had been on maternity leave with her second child for two long months.

"Let go of me, you fool!" She ranted, swatting at him.

He backed off with a goofy expression on his face and again, all attention was on him.

"What? It sucked without her here. I had to do a rectal last week. A rectal!" He complained.

"Touch me again, and you will be doing them for a year." She warned, before glaring at all of them. "You all, get to work! I am watching you."

Alex nodded solemnly and once Bailey was out of earshot, he grinned.

"Bailey's back!" He exclaimed once more, before jogging away.

"Who was that?" Avery asked.

All attention was now on him.

"That was Miranda Bailey. She seems tough but she is really a softie. She likes suck ups…a lot. She also will give a solo surgery to whoever begs for it the most." Cristina informed her.

"Really?" Avery mused. "I will be around." He darted off.

Meredith looked at Cristina.

"She does not."

"Oh, I know. I just want to see him knocked down a peg…or five." She said, smirking.

"Nice…" Meredith said.

They started walking to where rounds were starting and Meredith took one step and then groaned.

"When are going to get it, that sex all night with a man whose peen is almost as long as a one foot ruler and about as wide, is not conducive to walking straight the next day?" Cristina asked.

Meredith pretended to think.

"Never." She finally said.

"Whore." Cristina muttered.

"Skank." Meredith shot back.

"Fuck you."

"Oh, can I join in? Or do you not share females either?"

Meredith stiffened and turned to face Addison.

"Sure, you can join in. We were just talking about me fucking your ex husband senseless last night." Meredith said sweetly.

Cristina snorted.

"Well, just remember, I had him first." Addison smirked.

"I always thought it didn't matter who had him first, but who has him last." Meredith retorted.

"We will see." Addison said cockily.

"Yes you will." Meredith said.

_Dr. Grey. Room 3221. Dr. Grey. Room 3221._

"I have to go. See you at lunch." Meredith said to Cristina.

"Yeah." Cristina answered. She watched Meredith shuffle quickly out of sight and then turned to Addison with a smile on her face.

Addison put out her hand to Cristina.

"I don't believe we have met. I am Dr Addison Forbes Montgom…"

Cristina interrupted, ignoring her outstretched hand.

"I don't give a shit who you are. I am not impressed by your fifteen names or your manicured nails or your five inch stilettos. I am not even impressed by your reputation as a doctor and for me, that is saying something. Because I am all about the medicine…except when it comes to Meredith and Squirt."

"Squirt?" Addison interjected.

"Michael Christopher Shepherd, my godson. My friend's son. Derek and Meredith's son. They are happy and I will be damned if some Prada loving, salmon colored scrub wearing…oh and what is that? What self respecting surgeon wears salmon colored scrubs?"

Addison opened her mouth to intercede.

"You. That's who. Someone who not only doesn't respect the man she destroyed enough to let him be happy but who obviously doesn't respect herself. You are desperate and needy and pitiful. And if you keep it up, you are going to die, alone. And if you don't leave them alone, you will be walking around like Meredith, but for a completely different reason. Because you _will_ have a stick up your ass. Now if you will excuse me, I do hearts, not vag, so hopefully I won't see you around." Cristina then smiled at Addison. "Oh and it was very nice to meet you."

Addison watched her walk off thinking that she had underestimated Dr. Meredith Grey.

She might be a formidable opponent after all…


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey." Meredith breathlessly greeted Derek as she set her lunch tray down next to his and had a seat.

"Hey!" He grinned at her.

"Sorry I am late, I stopped to check on Michael. He was sleeping." She told him.

He nodded and leaned back in his seat with a wide, knowing grin.

Meredith rolled her eyes.

"What?" She asked pointedly as she chewed on a French fry.

"So we do anal every other Tuesday, huh?" He asked.

Meredith blushed.

"How did you hear about that?" She asked.

"Hear about it? I thought I was the one experiencing it with you. Let me think…hmmm…no. No anal. I would remember that."

Meredith force-fed him a French fry. He chewed it with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So do you?" He asked.

"Do I what?'

"Want to…you know…" He nodded towards her ass.

"Um…that would be a no."

"But…" He whined.

"Yes, it a butt, it's my butt and it is used for exit purposes only." She said emphatically.

"Please…" He pleaded jokingly.

"Okay, I will tell you what. I will do anal, but you first." She said.

"What do you mean?"

"You have, oh I don't know, Mark, violate the hole in your ass that is initially the size of a dime with something the size of silver dollar…and I am being kind there as to his size…and then if you are able to walk and don't need too much therapy to get over the experience…then we will talk." She offered.

Derek paled and swallowed hard.

"Never mind." He croaked.

"That is what I thought you would say." Meredith's pager went off and she took on last bite of her sandwich, stood up and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "As stimulating as this was, I have to go work now."

"See ya later. I love you." He said.

"Love you too."

He watched her leave, grinning widely. She was back to old sassy, snark y self again. A movement to his left broke him away from his staring.

"Is this seat taken?"

He looked up with a glare.

"Yes." He said tersely.

"Hmmm…too bad." She said, as she sat down, her left breast brushing his arm on purpose. He pushed away.

"Go away Addison." He demanded.

"Derek, come on. I don't know anyone else here, but Mark and I haven't seen him yet." She said.

"You don't want to. He hates you more than I do, if that is possible."

"Tell me something Derek. How can you forgive him so easily, but not me?" She asked.

"It wasn't easy. If it wasn't for Meredith, I wouldn't have. She taught me a good lesson on forgiveness when I had to beg for hers for being so rude and fucked up because of you." He spat.

"Well, if Saint Meredith taught you, then why can't you forgive me?" She persisted.

"Because with you, I have no obligation to try. I don't owe you anything. Mark is my brother."

"Yeah, you know the saying, 'Bros before Hos'?"

Addison took a deep breath and looked up at Mark.

"H…hi." She stuttered.

"What the hell are you doing here Addison?" He asked, his voice harsh.

"I am here for work, of course." She said.

"Isn't this hospital beneath you Addison? Isn't that what you said when you found out that is where Derek went? That he is slumming it here on the West Coast." Mark asked mockingly.

Derek leaned back and let Mark take over. He needed the closure. Derek had his. Meredith was his closure.

"Look Richard asked me to come here and I did. I didn't even think about you two…"

"Oh cut the bullshit Addison! You knew Derek and I were here. And you knew he had forgiven me and you knew he was happy. You can't stand it. You are so unhappy with your life that you can't handle that we are perfectly fine without you." Mark accused.

"We were Derek and Mark and Addison. We were the Three Musketeers!" She exclaimed.

"We are still the Three Musketeers. Only Meredith replaced you. I guess, counting Squirt, we are the Four Musketeers. Wouldn't you say, Derek?"

"Stop calling my son Squirt. His name is Michael. I swear, you and Yang are driving me crazy."

"Yeah, Yang is definitely crazy." Addison joined in, laughing. She stopped abruptly when they both glared at her.

"Cristina is Meredith's best friend." Derek told her.

"I know, we had a little chat earlier." She said dismissively.

"And you are still walking?" Mark asked.

Addison rolled her eyes and Derek fought the urge to smack her.

'I won't hit a woman, I won't hit a woman', he chanted to himself.

Mark leaned close to him and muttered, "You won't, but I will. Just say the word."

Derek looked at Mark, who grinned, and Addison, who looked affronted.

Okay, maybe he wasn't talking to himself…

"Look, I have to get back to work." He stood up and grabbed his tray.

"Hey I have a patient I need a consult on. Know any good Neurosurgeons?" Addison quipped.

"Very funny." He sighed. "Find me later." He said, hesitantly.

Addison smiled widely at him as he left. She felt, rather than saw, Mark's glare.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"Yeah, you can." He stood up, picked up his glass of water and poured it over her head.

She jumped up, shrieking.

"Why the hell did you do that, you fucking moron?"

"To see if you would melt. They make the witches stronger these days, huh? Go back to New York, Addie, no one wants you here."

"I hate hate hate you! And I will go when I am good and ready!" She screamed at him.

She heard his laughter as he walked away. She noticed everyone staring at her.

"What the hell are you all looking at?"

That was it. No more Ms. Nice Girl. It was time to bring out the big guns.


	10. Chapter 10

Addison leaned back in her chair and went to run her hands through her hair, but stopped when she realized she had it back in a ponytail. Damn Mark Sloan! He wasn't good for anything…except maybe sex. He wasn't a legend for nothing. That man made her toes curl. She bit her lip as she thought that Derek wasn't a slouch either in the bedroom skills. It was just after fifteen years of being together, sex had become fairly routine and boring. There had been no spice left when she had wandered. Not that was an excuse by no means and she had been wrong, evil even. She wasn't this person. The woman who wanted a man who didn't want her but she missed Derek and she knew that deep down he missed her too. You don't spend eleven years married to a person and not care.

The only thing standing in her way was the little family he had formed with Meredith and their offspring. She had yet to see Michael Shepherd. She wondered why they named him that with his oldest nephew already having that moniker. It was after his father though, and Derek had been the only son.

If she was being honest with herself, she would admit to the rampant jealousy that was coursing a fire through her veins. Meredith Grey had everything that Addison Montgomery wanted. A warm loving home, Derek and a baby that looked like him. She wondered what Derek saw in her though. She was nothing like her. Maybe that was the appeal…

Addison knew she had to make things right with Derek.

A hesitant knock on the door brought her out of her reverie.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No. Not at all." She smiled warmly at Derek. He paused at the door.

"Come in. Please. What do you think? Is it operable?" She asked.

He looked back at the hallway and stepped all the way in, leaving the door open and sat down at the conference table.

"You can close the door you know. I am not going to bite, well, unless you ask me too." She teased.

He frowned.

"Relax, Derek. I was just joking. Sheesh! Where did your sense of humor go in the past few years?"

His mouth tightened.

"Out the door with you." He said.

"Wait a damn minute! You left! I was willing to work it out!" She exclaimed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He asked incredulously. "You fucked my best friend, repeatedly. You tried to pass off his baby as mine. You destroyed me!"

"Well, you don't look so destroyed now." She pointed out.

"That is because of Meredith." He said.

She winced. That damn name again.

"Come on, Derek, how good can she really be for you?"

"Excuse me?" He asked, his voice low and deadly.

She ignored his tone.

"She is young, she is a lowly resident for God's sake! She got pregnant out of wedlock…"

He raised his eyebrows.

"What? I was married!" She defended.

His mouth gaped open and he shook his head.

"Anyway…it is because her mother is Ellis Grey? Is she padding your pocketbook to stay with her daughter? Is that it?"

Derek leaned forward to her.

"You listen to me and you listen good. I love Meredith Grey. She made me who I am today. She makes me smile and laugh and sometimes she makes me so mad, I could throttle her but then she bats her eyelashes at me and I just…melt. She has been through so much, I have put her through so much because of what you did to me and if you think for one minute I am going to leave her for you, you are fucking delusional. Now, as far as the patient goes, yes, it is operable. She is on my schedule for tomorrow at 8am. You are more than welcome to scrub in to monitor the baby but do not for one second, think about overstepping your boundaries. Do you understand me?" He said tersely.

Addison looked at him, open-mouthed. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were so full of passion that she couldn't help it.

She threw herself at him, her lips finding his immediately. He struggled under her weight and then he stilled. She felt triumphant until she noticed he wasn't responding. It was like he had shut down. She backed up and looked at him. His expression told her that he wanted to beat the fuck out of her.

"I…" She began.

She was interrupted by a gasp. Both of them swiveled their heads towards the sound.

Addison was catapulted into the floor as Derek leapt up and rushed out the door…

Meredith blindly ran down the hall. If she could just get to the elevator, she would be fine.

"Meredith!"

"Go away!"

"Please Mer! Talk to me." He pleaded. He was gaining on her. She ran towards an exam room and prayed it was empty. She twisted the knob and rushed in, closing it quickly. However, before she could lock it, he had opened it and walked in. He closed the door and looked at her, his gaze full of agony.

"Mer…please…" He choked out. "It's not what it looked like."

"Oh really? Cause what it looked like was my fiancé with a woman in his lap and her tongue down his throat! But please tell me what I really saw, since I obviously forgot to put my contacts in this morning!" She yelled.

"Please, quiet down." He begged.

"No! Why should I? You don't want people to know that you cheated on me?"

"I would never cheat on you. I didn't cheat on you!"

"Are you one of those men who think that kissing another woman isn't cheating because I interrupted before you could have sex with her doesn't mean shit." She ranted.

"That is enough!" He grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch me! You lost that right when you kissed your ex-wife." She exclaimed, wrenching her arm out of his grip.

"I didn't kiss her, she kissed me." He protested.

"I didn't notice you objecting too much." She snarked.

Derek thrust his hand through his hair, trying to keep his patience.

"Will you listen to me, you stubborn damn woman. I did not kiss her back. How many times have I told you that I love you?"

"And how many times did you tell me you didn't?" She said.

"That was two years ago. You can't throw that back in my face. I have made that up to you." He said.

"I thought you had too and then I walked in on you and her kissing." She said.

"We are not making any progress here." He sighed. "I didn't kiss her, she kissed me. I don't want her, I want you. I don't love her, I love you. End of fucking story. Now get over it and let's move on." He demanded.

"Get over it? Get over it? Are you fucking kidding me? I told you I was worried this would happen and you assured me it wouldn't. That she couldn't hurt us and now look."

"You are letting her hurt us! She is nothing to me. I hate her." He said.

She looked at him shrewdly.

"Do you really? Can you tell me that a part of you doesn't miss her? A part of her doesn't remember what you meant to each other? A part that wonders what if?" She asked.

He opened his mouth and nothing came out.

She nodded.

"That's what I thought." She said quietly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, he could see the tears flooding her green eyes. "I think that we need to take a break."

"What?" He whispered.

"You need to find out what you really want. Who you really want. I am going to stay with Cristina." She said.

"Please, don't do this." He pleaded.

"I don't trust you."

Those four words just about brought him to his knees. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

"I will go…it's your house. You and Michael should stay there. I don't want to uproot him." He said quietly.

At the mention of her son, Meredith's tears fell.

"How did everything change in two days?" She wondered aloud.

"You don't trust me." He threw back at her. "I will be in touch about seeing Michael."

With that he left.

Meredith watched him go with a heavy heart. Every fiber in her body wanted to run after him, throw her arms around him and never let him go.

But she didn't.


	11. Chapter 11

"How could she think that, huh? Tell me, what makes the woman I would die for think I would cheat on her with the Devil?"

Joe looked sympathetically at his drunk customer. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Drunk Derek in two years. Oh, he and Meredith came in here often but only had a few drinks and maybe slipped into the bathroom to defile it, but nothing like he was tonight.

No, this was the Derek Shepherd that he had met years ago, when he had first moved here. The Derek who didn't want anyone near him, never laughed and always frowned. Joe didn't like that Derek. He liked Meredith's Derek. That girl had changed him for the better. He laughed, he smiled, he joked, he danced…badly, he sung Karaoke…also badly, he gazed adoringly at his lovely fiancé.

"The Devil?" Joe asked, knowing exactly who he was referring to. He was Joe, he knew everything. Besides Bailey had told him.

"My ex-wife." He growled.

"And exactly happened to where you are not allowed to go home with Meredith and Michael?"

"She attacked me." He said.

"Meredith?" Joe asked.

"No, Addison. She threw herself at me and Meredith walked in and instantly thought the worst and wouldn't let me explain and told me she needed a break. A break!" He exclaimed.

"Well did you ever look at it from her point of view?" Joe asked.

Derek looked at him blearily.

"Her point of view? The only point of view she should have is that I love her, I want to marry her, I want to have more children with her. Nothing else should matter. I was married to Addison, not her."

"Exactly. You were married to Addison. For a while, I presume."

"But I am not married to her anymore." Derek said.

"I know that. But tell me something, if she hadn't of slept with Mark, got pregnant and tried to pass the baby off as yours, would you still be with her?"

"I…I don't know." Derek said.

"And therein lies the problem. You don't know. You loved this woman at one point, probably as much as you loved Meredith."

"I have never loved anyone as much as I love Meredith." He growled.

"That is neither here nor there. If you had stayed with Addison, you never would've met Meredith." Joe reasoned.

Derek sucked in a breath.

"I…I can't even comprehend that." He said, pain evident on his face.

"Let me get to my point. Meredith knows this and she feels expendable. She is afraid that all the feelings, all the things that you loved about Addison will suddenly appear again and leave her without you. She doesn't mean to accuse you of cheating, she is just terrified that she is going to lose you. You have to remember that Meredith didn't have the best childhood." Joe reminded him.

Derek looked at Joe, his brain slightly less hazy now.

"You are very wise. You definitely missed your calling." Derek said with a smile.

"Nope found it here. The wise thing is hereditary." Joe teased. "Seriously, get Addison out of your life for good, get closure, and go get Meredith back."

Derek nodded and got up, throwing some cash on the bar.

"Do you need a cab?" Joe asked.

"No, I am just going down the block. The air will sober me up."

"Where are you going?" Joe asked.

"To slay some dragons." Derek said, and walked out the door.

Addison wrapped a towel around her body and peered into her bedroom at the alarm clock.

11:28pm

Who the hell could that be?

She walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" She called out.

"It's me."

Derek! She quickly unlocked the door and opened it, schooling her features into a cool expression.

"Derek. What a surprise. What can I do for you?"

He stormed past her.

"Cut the shit Addison." He said.

"I'm sorry? I'm not understanding you." She asserted softly.

"I want you gone. Yesterday. Go home." He demanded.

"We have covered this Derek. Richard needs me here." She reminded him.

"I will handle Richard. Leave."

"Derek."

"Leave." He said louder.

"Just listen."

"LEAVE!" He roared.

Addison reared back. She had never seen him so angry. Broken, yes. Sad, yes. Angry. No.

"What is wrong…"

"No! It is my turn to talk! I sat back for fifteen years and let you talk and plan and I never said a word to contradict you. I was miserable with you, but I had made vows and that was important to me. I thought that if I tried hard enough, if I loved you enough, we could have the kind of relationship my parents had. But we couldn't, because we are not my parents. We are two different people who wanted different things who just happened to be married. I hated living in the city, I hated having a house in the Hampton's, I hated going to all those parties, I hated wearing the suits, I hated having the most expensive clothes, and houses, and cars. I just wanted to be happy and grow old with the love of my life surrounded my our children and grandchildren. That is what I wanted in life. You weren't happy with me and I wasn't happy with you."

"I was happy with you, I loved you!" Addison interrupted.

"If you loved me so much, why Mark? Why sleep with my best friend? Why?"

"He was just there and we were…"

"He was just there? He was just there! God damnit Addison, you broke my heart! How dare you say that to me? How dare you throw away our marriage on a piece of ass!"

Derek broke off and sucked a breath. He went over and sat on the bed, his shoulders slumped.

"When I came here, I was a mess. I was so angry and hurt. I didn't want to be around anyone, I didn't want to make friends, I didn't want to do anything but cut and go home and get drunk. And I was very good at it. My attitude drove everyone away. No one liked me, but no one stood up to me. Except Bailey…and Meredith." He smiled a little now. "She had skeletons in her closet too. She always dressed for invisibility. I noticed her though, not too much more than anyone else, but I noticed her. She stood up to me one night at Joe's and it made me so mad that I vowed to torture her. Then she showed up, all glamorous and hot. Not knowing that the way she was before was even more beautiful. She messed with my head…and my heart. She got under my skin. When you met her, the first time, when she stood up to you…she wasn't my girlfriend then. I had bribed her into coming with me and acting like my girlfriend. And that night, after she had gotten rid of you, she told me some horrific things that she has lived through and I fell in love with her...that night. But I pushed her away. Do you know why?"

Addison shook her head no.

"Because I couldn't let another woman have power over me. I couldn't let her break me, so I broke her instead…or I tried. She is strong though and let me know that she would move on without me and I would just be stuck in limbo my whole life. And then I almost lost her. She almost died. And I knew that my life wouldn't be worth living without her in it. And that still holds true. She saw what you did today and she left me. Isn't that what you wanted? To break us up?"

Addison just stood there, not sure if that was a rhetorical question or not.

"But don't you see? Even if she won't take me back, even if you succeeded, I will never go back to you. I hate you. No, wait. I don't hate you. I pity you. I love her. She is my soul mate. I want you gone. Make it happen." He stood up and walked over to her.

"Goodbye Addison."

Once he was gone, Addison slipped down the shut door and rested her head against it.

She realized several things at once.

One, she didn't recognize herself anymore. When had she become this bitter, angry woman?

Two, she had screwed up her own life. No one had helped her.

Three, she had lost Derek. He was in love with someone else.

And four, she had to make things right for him. One last thing for the man she had loved and lost.


	12. Chapter 12

Meredith kissed Michael's forehead as she dropped him off at daycare. It had been a rough night. Meredith had been irritable because Michael had been irritable because Derek wasn't home. And that was her fault.

She had tossed and turned all night knowing she had overreacted.

He was Derek. She trusted him with her life. With Michael's life. She didn't trust Addison at all and what she had seen was probably Addison's desperate attempt to sink her claws into him.

She was going to find him and apologize.

And they were going to move on.

She rushed up to the third floor, hoping she could catch him before rounds. She knew they couldn't hash things out right then but she just wanted to say she was sorry. They could talk tonight.

She saw a glimpse of the hair and ran forward, resisting the urge to call out his name. The less attention in this hospital, the better.

"Dr. Grey!"

She groaned and ignored the voice. She kept going.

"Dr. Grey!"

She halted and turned quickly to face Kepler.

"Can I help you?" She hissed.

She looked taken aback by Meredith's tone but pushed on anyway.

"Um…yes. Mr. Donnelly in 3116 is presenting with intermittent chest pains, which to me may suggest a myocardial infarction and…"

"Is there a point to this? Cause I am not getting any younger." She said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Um…what do I do?" Kepler asked.

"You call Cardio. I am Neuro. So unless his heart grows a brain, you are barking up the wrong tree. Oh and before I forget, Dr. Shepherd is mine. So stop with the lip biting, the gushing, the fawning and the general eye fucking or you will be a patient here instead of a doctor. Are we clear?"

Kepler nodded hesitantly and just stood there, as if afraid to move.

"Can the Cardio department read minds?" Meredith asked.

"No, ma'am." She said.

"Well than wait the hell are you waiting for?" Meredith hissed.

"Nothing ma'am, right away ma'am."

Meredith watched her scurry away.

Stupid interns.

She walked towards the general vicinity of where she had seen Derek.

She halted when she saw him arguing with Addison. She straightened back her shoulders and walked up to them.

"Stay out of it! You have done enough damage thank you very much. I didn't come to your room last night to…"

Addison closed her eyes and inhaled quickly. She gestured towards Meredith and Derek turned and froze.

Meredith was reeling. He had went to her room last night? For what?

"It's not what you think. I swear." Derek was saying to her, his hands raised in defense.

"I…I have to go." Meredith stuttered before fleeing.

"Mother fuc…" She heard Derek spat.

She just needed to process this. She could do this. She could make it to the elevator before breaking down in front of the whole hospital. She was going to call the chief, tell them she needed a personal day and call Cristina and make sure that she could pick up Michael after she got off. She needed time.

Twenty minutes later, she was home. She didn't even remember making the calls or driving.

She changed into her favorite pair of sleep clothes…Derek's old high school shirt and his boxers. She made a big bowl of coffee ice cream and collapsed onto the couch, sniffling.

She would process this…right after she wallowed.

She had been one with her self-pity for an hour before hearing a knock on the door. She ignored it.

Another knock.

And another.

And then the fucking banging started.

Meredith got up and stormed to the door, wrenching it open and yelled, 'What the fuck do you want?"

Ellis Grey and Carolyn Shepherd both raised their eyebrows at her.

Oh shit.

"Would you like the chance to rephrase that, dear?" Carolyn asked.

"And then…and he…said…he went…to her…room last night." Meredith wailed.

Ellis and Carolyn exchanged a look and then Ellis took a deep breath.

"Snap out of it! The daughter I raised is a force of nature and does not cry over a man." She demanded.

Carolyn nudged Ellis and turned to Meredith.

"Did you let him explain?" She asked.

"Well…um…you see…" Meredith stammered.

"I will take that as a no." Carolyn sighed. "I am sure there is a good explanation for it. Did he look happy talking to her?"

"Well, no but why would he go to her room? Did he sleep there? Did they have sex…oh God." Meredith gasped.

"No, we didn't."

All three woman looked up to find Addison standing in the living room doorway. "The door was open." She explained, waving her hand behind her.

"What do you want?" Meredith growled.

"I take this is the illustrious bed hopping whore?" Ellis asked Carolyn.

"It was one bed I hopped into." Addison rolled her eyes.

"That was one bed too many." Carolyn said.

"Look I didn't come here to get into an argument with either of you." She looked at Ellis. "And I don't even know who you are."

Ellis raised her right eyebrow and glared. She got up and walked over to Addison.

"I am Dr. Ellis Grey." She said evenly.

Addison froze.

"Oh," was all she said.

"Now, that is out of the way, how about you tell me why you are really here."

"I need to talk to Meredith."

"That is fine, but you will talk to all three of us and if we don't like what you say, I will throw you out on your big ass."

"My ass is not big!" Addison exclaimed.

Ellis made a big deal of glancing at her backside.

"Sorry to break it to you, but yes it is."

"I am just here to talk to Meredith." She looked to where Meredith was sitting with her arms crossed, glaring at her. "Look, he came to my room last night to set me straight. He told me this whole damn sob story about how in love with you he was, yada yada yada. Whatever. He said his piece and then left. And as for what you saw yesterday, I threw myself at him. I am not proud of that fact. I have never been the sort of girl who begged a man to want her and there I was leaping into my ex husband's lap and planting one on him like some floozy and he obviously didn't want any part of it. Hell when he saw you, he threw my ass in the floor."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Meredith asked.

"I just…it wasn't fair to him for you to leave him and not let him see Michael because you thought he chose me over you." Addison explained.

Meredith slowly rose from the couch, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"Uh, oh." Ellis said.

"First of all, don't ever dirty my son's name by letting it come from your mouth. Secondly, I didn't leave him, I told him I needed to think. Lastly, don't you think for one fucking second that I thought he would choose your Prada wearing, friend fucking, trust fund having, privileged big ass over me. Now get the fuck out of my house before you taint it and it bursts into flames. You know, like if you were to walk into a church or something."

Addison swallowed heavily and she was taking deep breaths, her face red.

"I will not have you talk to me like this. I came here to fix this problem."

"A problem in which you caused. If you would have stayed away, this would never have happened. You have said what you had to say, now leave." Meredith ordered.

"You heard her Addison." Carolyn said.

"I'm leaving, but one more thing before I leave. Don't wait until things are really bad before trying to fix them, because it might be too late. Oh and I quit so I won't be a problem anymore. Have a nice life Meredith."

She looked at Meredith one last time and was gone, the door closing with a quiet thud.

Meredith stood there for a second, trying to comprehend what the hell had just happened. Finally she turned to her mothers.

"What do I do? I basically told him I didn't trust him." She asked helplessly.

"You go to him. Call work and arrange for you two to have a couple of days off. Go somewhere, away from here…just the two of you." Carolyn said.

"But Michael…"

"Will be fine with his two grandmothers. We both have experience with children. You didn't raise yourself you know." Ellis said.

Meredith looked at her pointedly.

"Oh, well I guess you did. Carolyn will be here at any rate. Just go. Pack a bag and kidnap Derek. Take as long as you need."

"You are sure you don't mind?" Meredith asked both of them.

"Not in the slightest." Carolyn assured her.

"Okay. Okay. Michael needs to be picked up by six. I will call you when I know where we are going." She kissed them both and ran up the stairs.

She just hoped it wasn't too late.


	13. Chapter 13

"Where the hell are you?" Meredith muttered as she looked around the trailer. Only sign of him was two beer cans sitting on the table. She had tried calling him numerous times, just to get his voicemail. She had left messages just to get no reply. She had sent texts, still no reply. She had asked around the hospital as to his whereabouts and finally Richard had told her that he had asked for some time off and that he was going somewhere to think. He had also approved her request for time off and told them to work on their relationship and that he was sorry for his involvement, also saying he hadn't meant any harm. Meredith graciously accepted his apology because it was not his fault they were not strong enough to deal with Addison's presence, it was theirs.

Somewhere along the way their relationship had become docile. They had stopped trying because to them it seems effortless. Wake up, kiss, have breakfast, spend time with Michael, work, eat dinner, spend time with Michael, talk about Michael, have sex, go to bed, repeat. And while that was okay, they didn't leave time for themselves. They had stopped going on dates, stopped talking about anything other than work and their son. They had stopped therapy. They had stopped being a couple and were just parents.

Now it was time to work on them. Their moms had Michael and work was taken care of, but she needed to find Derek.

She walked onto the deck and sighed. It was dark, it was cold and forty acres was a lot of land. She looked towards the lake and remembered the first time he had brought her out here.

_"__Do you ever use this lake?" She asked._

_"Yes…I fish."_

_"No shit? Really?" She asked, astounded._

_"Yes, really…why?"_

_Meredith bit back a laugh._

_"You just don't seem really fishermany to me…that's all."_

_"Fishermany?"_

_"It's a word." She defended._

_"Where is it a word?" He asked._

_"In the Meredith Cronicles…it exists…just leave it at that." She grumbled._

_"Oh so in the dark recesses in your mind, the work fishermany exists…got it."_

She smiled now, thinking of their banter, back when they knew nothing about each other.

She turned away from the lake and peered into the darkness to her left towards the cliff. They had discussed building a house overlooking it, but that too had been put aside as they lived their busy lives. She blinked and looked closer, focusing on a dark figure huddled in the clearing.

Derek.

She walked towards him but stopped just short of reaching him. He looked miserable. His eyes were bloodshot, either from crying or the beer. He looked haggard, as if he hadn't slept in a week. He looked defeated.

"You just going to stand there staring at me all night or are you going to say something?" He asked, his tone cold. It took her back to the way it was when they had first started this. It sent shivers down her spine. She ignored that though. She was never one to back down from a fight and she wasn't going to start now.

"I am going to say something. A lot of somethings actually."

"Why? Why now? Why not yesterday, when you told me you didn't trust me? Or the day before that, when you told me you were worried I would want my satanic ex back? Or the day before that, when…we were happy." He looked at me, his eyes full of agony. "Three days. Three days is all it took to make us fall apart." He turned his gaze to the ground.

"I think that maybe we have been falling apart for a while now." She admitted.

He looked up again.

"What? How can you say that? We have a great life. We have a great relationship." He said.

"If it was so great, how did this happen?" She motioned between the two of them. "How did we fall apart, as you said, so easily if we had a great relationship?"

"You don't trust me." He stated, as if that was the only thing wrong.

"I do. For the most part." She said.

"No, you don't. You can't if you thought I would do that to you."

"I trust you a lot for certain things. I don't trust that you won't leave me one day if something better comes along." She admitted with a sigh.

He rose up to his full height and stalked over to her, towering over her. In that brief moment, Meredith was scared of him. When he spoke, though, his voice was surprisingly soft.

"Don't you get it? Don't you see? There is nothing better for me than you." He stated emphatically. "You are everything to me. Everything. I would die for you. I would literally dive in front of a bus or take a bullet for you. I would never leave you, especially not for someone who ripped my heart out. You are the mother of my child and I love you. I trust you. And yet, you can't give me the same courtesy."

"Sometimes I feel like maybe that is all I am to you. The mother of your child." She explained.

"Why did you never tell me this?" He asked, frustrated.

"I felt like if I did, it would seem as if I was complaining about something stupid. I mean, I have this great guy and he is a great father and he loves our son and he really cares about me, but then I think…" She stopped and looked away.

"You think?" He prompted.

"Never mind." She whispered.

"No. Not never mind. We are going to get this out. We are going to fix this. There is no other option." He demanded.

Meredith took a deep breath.

"Why haven't we gotten married?" She asked.

Derek froze and it seemed that he paled. He thrust his hand through his hair and cursed. He opened his mouth and then closed it and repeated that motion a few more times, obviously grappling with what he wanted to say.

Realization hit her.

"You're not ready." She stated. "You are scared that I am going to turn into Addison. Right?"

He didn't say anything but it didn't matter. His eyes said it all.

She nodded in acceptance.

"You don't trust me anymore than I trust you." She stated. She looked away from him and out onto the lights of Seattle.

They stayed silent for several minutes, until Meredith broke the silence.

"Do you even want to work this out?" She asked finally, her heart and gut twisting as she awaited his answer.

"God, yes." He breathed and she sighed in relief. "I can't imagine my life without you."

"Without me or without Michael? Because I want you to know I would never keep him from you. You are his father and…mmph." His lips attacking hers interrupted her words.

She clung to him as he assaulted her mouth, eliciting moans and pants and soft sighs until he came up for air. He moved slightly away from her and she swayed.

"Do you feel that? That energy that courses from my body to yours? Do you?" He asked.

"That is lust, sex. You can't build a relationship on it, or in our case, keep one afloat." She countered.

He grabbed her hand and placed it over his heart, just as he did two nights ago. She felt his heart pulsing under her hand.

"This is yours. Always. I meant it two nights ago, I meant it two years ago, I mean it now, this very instant. I love you. Only you. No one else even compares. You are all I think about. All I need. All I want." He assured her.

Meredith let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Okay. Good. I arranged for some time off as did you. Our moms are here and they are taking care of Michael. So the way I see it, we have time to figure this out. To fix us. To move forward, if we can." She said.

"We can. There is no other option." Derek said.

"Then let's do this." She said.

They looked at each other, neither making a move.

Finally, after a few awkward seconds, Derek spoke.

"Okay, how do we do this?" He asked.

Meredith let out a laugh.

"I have no idea." She admitted.

"Well in cases like this, I always ask myself. WWWD." He said.

"WWWD?" She asked, confused.

"What would Wyatt do." He confessed.

Meredith snorted.

"She would slap both of us on the back of our heads and asked us what the fuck we thought we were doing messing up all of her hard work." Meredith said.

"So true. Where did we go wrong?" He asked, suddenly serious.

"I don't know, but we can make it right." She said.

He extended his hand towards her.

She took it.

"Let's go start making it right." He pleaded.

They walked hand in hand back to the trailer and hoped against all hope, that they could.


	14. Chapter 14

Meredith and Derek sat at the table in the tiny dining area of his former residence. The awkward silence had been in effect for at least ten minutes.

"So…"

"I don't…"

They both started to speak and then looked at one another, both laughed stiltedly.

"This shouldn't be this hard." She whispered.

"Okay, let me start. What did you do today?" He asked, leaning forward and resting his chin on one hand.

He just had to ask.

"Well, I came to work after a sleepless night only to find you holed up in an intense conversation with Addison. Then I misunderstood said conversation and ran out of work. I then went home to sulk and someone knocked on the door. And who should it be? The Sisterhood of Meddling Mothers, who then sat there while I told them my sob story. And then who should just barge in on my pity party? Satan's Whore. Who then proceeds to tell me that she is, in fact, Satan's Whore and that she was throwing herself at you when I walked in and that you do in fact, hate her and love me." She took a deep breath. "Then the mothers offered to take our son while we worked out our problems. How was your day?"

His eyes were saucer wide by the time she had finished.

"It sucked" was all he said.

Meredith nodded.

"Until you came to find me." He finished, his eyes twinkling.

Meredith smiled at him, then ducked her head shyly.

"So how…" She trailed off.

"How do we do this? I think we just have to play it by ear." He shrugged.

"In other words, you are as lost as I am." She interpreted.

He laughed.

"You could say that." He confirmed.

She looked down at her hands, wringing them in each other and then looked him dead in the eye.

"I love you. So much. Every time I see you, my heart starts beating out of my chest and I wonder how I got so lucky to have you in my life. You are a wonderful, kind, loving man and you are a great father to Michael. You are what I aspire to be in my professional life and what I live for in my personal life." She said.

He reached across the table and grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"You know how I feel, but I am going to tell you again, anyway. You are the air I breathe, the touch I crave…you are my soul. You are the reason I am the way I am. Before you, it was like I was drowning and you saved me. I don't think I can survive without you. I won't survive without you so we have to make this work. We have to fix this. Please." He pleaded.

Meredith looked in his eyes and saw that he was near tears. He turned away. She squeezed his hand.

"Hey. Look at me." She insisted. He did. "I am not breaking up with you. Yes, I was upset and jealous and stupid and crazy but never did I mean that I didn't want you anymore. I will always want you. We just have to concentrate on us for once. I think that we have lost track of that in the past year, but we will get it back. I promise." She vowed.

He let out a sigh of relief so big, his shoulders slumped.

"How? How do we do this?" He asked.

"We talk, about everything. We answer all questions honestly, no matter how hard the answers might be for the other. Honesty, communication and love." She said emphatically.

"Sounds good. Who starts?" He asked, looking like he didn't want to.

She took pity on him.

"Do you think we moved too fast…us, I mean?" She asked.

Derek looked baffled.

"No, I honestly don't. Do you?"

"Sometimes. I mean, you didn't acknowledge my existence until I butt heads with you. And that was just to torture me. Then we struck a deal, went to Connecticut and then you took advantage." She said.

"I did not take advantage. You took advantage. I was half drunk, pissed, vulnerable and good looking and you took advantage."

"I did not! I had just told you the most horrible part of my past and you threw yourself at me!" She exclaimed.

"Oh no! You started undressing and crooked your little finger at me. Who would turn that down?" He asked.

"You certainly didn't." She snorted.

He laughed.

"Best sex of my life." He admitted.

"Oh yeah." They sat there remembering.

"Remember the dining room table sex?" He asked.

"I remember that your mother and sisters caught us going at it on said dining room table." She smirked.

"Yeah, that was embarrassing." He admitted.

"For me. I had just met them." She said, laughing.

"Have you forgiven me for what happened after we got back? When I said that no one could possibly love you?" He asked, his face suddenly sullen.

"Derek. Yes. It hurt, I am not going to lie. You pushing me away after I had given you my whole self but I get it. I still do, to an extent. I just…I hated seeing you drink yourself into a stupor. I remember the night you were so drunk Alex and I had to take you home. You threw up on his shoe." She laughed.

"He deserved it. He was in love with you, you know?" He told her.

"He was in lust with me, not love. He is a wonderful friend but my heart was already taken. He knew that." She assured him.

"Yeah, now if only Avery would get that memo." He said, scowling.

"You can not possibly be jealous of Avery." She said.

"And why not?" He asked. "He practically drools when you are around." He muttered.

"And Kepner?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Oh, please, she is a fetus." He said. "I have no interest in anyone that is not you."

"Well, same here." She insisted.

"Okay, now that is settled." He said. "What else?"

"Derek, we can't fix this in an hour, or a day, or even a week. This is going to be an ongoing battle, making our relationship a priority. We have busy jobs and a child. We can talk this out, make a plan and stick to it but we can not make us perfect. We are always going to fight." She said.

"I don't so much mind the fighting." He said.

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"Because the making up is oh so much fun." He purred, leaning closer.

She placed a hand on his chest.

"Hold up Bucko. No bumping uglies." She said.

"First of all, I hate that saying. Nothing about you is ugly. Secondly, are you saying no sex?" He asked.

"For now." She said.

"No. You did that once to me and the whole household suffered. There were mood swings and temper tantrums and cursing and whining…" He reminded her.

"Yeah, and that was just you." She smirked.

"Part of why we work so well is because of our intimacy." He told her.

"Yeah, but Derek, intimacy isn't just about sex. It's about remembering all the things that you love about someone and letting them know. It's about showing your true self and it is about trust. That is what we need to work on." She said.

Derek sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. She knew that was a sign of frustration.

"You're right. I am just being a man." He finally said, flashing her a crooked but genuine smile.

"That is one of the many things I love about you." She said.

"Good to know." He said, stifling a yawn.

Meredith looked at her watch and balked. It was two o' clock in the morning.

"Look, we have made progress tonight. Why don't we just go to sleep and wake up and start over." She suggested.

"Sounds good. You are going to sleep next to me tonight, right?" He asked. "I didn't sleep at all last night without you."

"I didn't either. And there is no where else I would rather be." She smiled.

She followed him into the bedroom and they unrobed and slipped under the comforter. She turned on her side and he spooned her from behind.

"Hey Mer?"

"Yeah?"

"There is nowhere I would rather be either."

Her smile lasted until morning.


	15. Chapter 15

"Don't drop me!"

Derek rolled his eyes and shifted her more securely on his back.

"I am not going to drop you."

"Yes, you are. I am sliding down your back."

"If you would stop wiggling, you wouldn't be." He pointed out. "Now be still."

"Don't tell me what to do." She said.

"I'm your boss, that's my job."

"You are my boss at work, this is not work." She informed him.

"That's what you think." He muttered.

"I heard that!" She said, loosing her death grip around his neck and slapping him on his chest.

"Feisty. I like that in my women." He smirked.

"Your women?" She asked. He would swear on a stack of bibles, her eyebrow was raised. He glanced back and chuckled. Yep. It was raised.

"Yep. I am very popular you know. I mean, with the hair, the eyes, the smile, the body…how can women resist me?" He teased.

"I know one who is going to start right now if you don't shut up." She taunted.

"Shutting up." He said quickly and was rewarded with her giggling against his neck. She pressed her soft lips on his clavicle and relaxed as much as she could with her bouncing with every step.

It was day three of the Grey-Shepherd Reconciliation Plan and things were going well. They were communicating but yesterday had been rough. There were a lot of accusations flying around about whose fault it was that their relationship was like it was and Meredith had stormed out to her car, intent on leaving. However, her keys were on the counter and Derek had lounged lazily in the doorway watching her frantically look for them. It had taken everything he had not to laugh when she looked up and saw him with her keys dangling from his finger. If looks could kill, he would have been a dead man.

She had then stormed back into the trailer and sat down on the bed, arms crossed, pouting. She looked so adorable and it took him back to the days where he had fallen for her. He wanted so desperately to have that back.

So they had talked it out, all of it, from start to finish. Everything. His deep seated anger issues which had stemmed from him seeing his dad killed to Addison's affair to his always feeling like he had to protect his family from everything bad. They had talked about her extreme abandonment issues stemming from her mother, her relationship with Ellis now, the pressures of her job that made her feel like she wasn't a good mom. They had laid it all out of the table and had dealt with it, little by little. They had fallen into bed, exhausted, at 3 am.

So when they had woken up, Derek had suggested having a lighter day. So here they were, hiking around his land. Well, Derek was hiking and Meredith was riding piggyback because her boots were made for fashion not hiking.

They were smiling more, as if they had a lighter load on their shoulders. They were not done working on them, but as Meredith said, they never would be. Not if they wanted this to succeed.

A strand of Meredith's hair swept by his cheek, leaving her scent behind as she tucked it behind her ear. He breathed deeply. He loved her scent, it calmed him faster than anything. It was home to him. It was like, no matter where they were, as long as she was there, he was home.

He didn't know when it had happened, but along the way, he had started seeing her as Michael's mom. And while that was okay, she was so much more than that to him. She was his everything. And it scared him to think how close he had come to losing her over a woman who had hurt him. He had built up so many defenses when Addison had betrayed him and he had alienated so many people with his resulting behavior. It had only taken a feisty, argumentative petite blond to crumble his walls down and make him fall to his knees.

She had given him everything. Her body, her spirit, her soul, her heart. She had given him his son. She had given him a warm home. She had given him love.

Now it was his turn.

"Penny for your thoughts."

He smiled.

"I would've thought they would've least been worth a dime. You know, with inflation and all." He teased.

"Haven't you heard? We are in a recession now." She quipped.

"Oh. Well, you can have my thoughts for free." He said, helping her to the ground. She looked around at their surroundings.

"I don't think I have ever been here before." She stated.

"Hell, I don't know if I have even been out this far before." He told her.

She sat down on the ground and leaned back, bracing with her arms. She let the rarely seen sunlight wash over her face, her eyes closed.

His breath caught. She was so lovely.

"Are you doing to stand there all day, or are you going to sit down?" She asked, squinting up at him.

"I am going to sit down. I need to rest. Carrying you is not the easiest task." He said, keeping a straight face.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" She asked. And there was that damn eyebrow again.

"I'm saying exactly what I said." He told her.

"No, you are saying that I am fat." She insisted.

Derek rolled his eyes. Fat? She barely weighed a hundred pounds.

"No, I'm not. You don't weigh enough if you want my opinion. I just am not used to having to carry someone on my back for the better part of an hour." He explained.

"So you are saying that you are weak?"

"Yes. No. I am not weak. I am a strong, manly, virile man. A man's man." He said.

"Oh yes, hear you roar and all of that." She said dismissively. "I still say you are weak."

"Oh, I will show you weak."

He pounced, throwing himself on top of her and finding her inner thigh. She squealed with laughter, gasping because she couldn't catch her breath.

"Stop! Stop!" She demanded breathlessly.

"No, not until you admit I am not weak." He said.

"Okay! Okay! Uncle! You are strong! Just stop…tickling me!" She said still panting.

He stopped his finger's movement and rested his head on his palm, grinning down on her. They were both breathing hard and smiling.

"This is nice." She said.

"It is. I don't think I realized how much I missed being with you like this." He admitted.

"Me either." She said.

He absentmindedly started stroking his fingers back and forth, just enjoying the time with her. She bit her lip and her breathing got harder.

"You okay?" He asked.

A low groan answered him.

And then he realized when he glanced at his fingers that had somehow on their own became pressed up against the seam of her jeans. Incidentally, hitting the right place.

"I'm sorry." He gasped, tearing his fingers away. "I didn't realize. I didn't mean to…too fast."

She snatched his hand and placed them back to where they were.

"Who the hell said that?" She asked, her eyes dark with lust.

"Oh, so we are discussing the sex issue again?" He asked, confused.

"No, not discussing. Doing might be more accurate." She breathed.

She was holding his fingers and moving against them, her hips gyrating and her eyes fluttering closed. He decided to help her out.

He moved his hand away and kissed her when she protested. He eased open her button and unzipped her jeans, slipping his hand into the small space. He looked at her when he was met with no resistance.

"Commando?" He asked.

A grin and a wink was her answer.

He let his finger circle her clit for a moment before allowing two of them to move forward into her slickness. He groaned. She was so wet. He slipped one finger into her tight wet heat, then two. She arched her back making him slip in even deeper. He used his thumb to massage her throbbing clit. His restricted hand didn't allow him room for much movement but Meredith didn't seem to care. She panted and moaned breathy little sounds that made him harder than he could ever remember being before.

"Please. More." She demanded.

He obliged and very soon after, he felt her start to tremble and her channel started constricting around his fingers, effectively trapping them there. He brought his fourth finger over to his thumb and pinched them together, making her cum hard, screaming loudly. He helped her ride it out and when she collapsed in exhaustion, he pulled his fingers out and fixed her clothing. He couldn't resist bringing his fingers to his mouth and licking them clean. No one tasted better than Meredith. It just wasn't possible.

She moaned again and he opened his eyes to see her watching him. He smiled at her.

"Well, that was fun." He said, making her break out into a fit of giggles.

"Do you want me to return the favor?" She asked.

God, he did. He was so hard, he was miserable.

"No. I'm fine." He told her.

Meredith looked at the obvious bulge in his jeans and he shifted to get comfortable.

"Yes, you are. You are also about to explode. There is no sense giving yourself blue balls when I can do something about it." She said.

She did have a point.

He took her hands.

"I am good. It will go down…eventually. I did that for you and there is no need for reciprocation. Okay?" He said.

Meredith looked confused but she just nodded.

He stood up and offered his hand to her. She took it and hoisted herself up to a standing position.

They started walking and it was almost agonizing. Meredith must have noticed.

"It wouldn't take long." She said.

Derek mock glared at her dig about his stamina.

"No," He asserted.

"Have you ever seen your mother naked?" She asked suddenly.

He looked at her in disgust.

"No!"

"I have. She was getting out of the shower and I didn't know anyone was in there and I walked in. Nothing was where it really should be. Did you know that boobs sag that much when you get older?"

"What the hell Meredith!?" He exclaimed. "I don't want to hear about that!"

Meredith looked at him and smirked.

"Yeah, but it helped didn't it?" She asked, looking pointedly at his groin. He looked down too. It had indeed subsided.

"Yeah it did. Now I am going to have that mental picture in my head and I won't be able to get it up. Thanks for that. Really." He complained.

She shrugged.

"That's what you have a mouth and hands for. Now, let me hop on so we can get home." She said.

He rolled his eyes and with a chuckle, he helped her climb on him for the piggyback ride home.

Yep, she was feisty. She was stubborn. She was even evil sometimes.

But she was his.


	16. Chapter 16

"Home sweet home." Derek mused as he put the car in park.

Meredith glanced at their house.

"Yeah, is it weird that I am going to miss being on the land?"

"You are going to miss the trailer?" He asked incredulously. While she had never looked down on the fact that he had lived in it at one time, it wasn't her favorite place in the world.

"I said the land. I will not miss the trailer with its two foot bathroom and ten inch closet. Oh and let's not forget the shower."

"Hey, no knocking the shower." He admonished. "I have many fond memories of that shower. None of which we recreated this time out."

Meredith stifled a laugh. Derek was beyond blue balls. His penis was well on its way to getting gangrene at this point.

"I can't wait to see Michael." He said wistfully.

"Why don't you take him to the park while I entertain the mothers?" She suggested, turning to look at him.

"I don't want to go without you." He said.

"Derek, it is to the park, not across the country. Besides, you haven't really seen him in a week. You need some male bonding time with him." She pointed out.

He looked at the house which for the next who knows how long, would be saturated with estrogen. Male bonding did sound good.

"Yeah, you might have a point." He agreed.

"Well what are we waiting for?" She asked.

He leaned forward and kissed her sweetly. He parted with a sigh.

"Let's go." He got out of the car and hurried around, just in time to get her door. She got out with a little laugh and a shake of her head.

"What?" He asked amused.

"Nothing. Well, I was just remembering the first time I went to dinner with you. Remember?"

"Oh, the one with my mom. Yeah." He smiled.

"Yeah, you were being such a douche and then you go and do something sweet like opening my door for me." She said. They walked up the steps slowly. "Oh, hey. Do you remember what you mom asked me during dinner?"

Derek strained to remember and then it dawned on him and he bust out a laugh.

"She asked you how many guys you had sex with." He said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, the look on both of your faces when I threw out a number." She said ruefully.

"Well if memory serves you correctly, it was an astronomically high number." He reminded her.

"That was none of her business." She shot back.

"True. I still don't know that answer." He said.

"And you never will." She paused. "I don't ask about your past lovers. Besides, it doesn't so much matter who the first was or the twentieth. It matters who the last is. And you are my last." She said, stepping on her tip toes to press her mouth firmly upon his.

"Twentieth?" He asked, pulling back.

She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Never mind." He said quickly.

"Come on. I am having withdrawals." She said tugging on his hand. They opened the door and walked in.

Michael ran out of the living room at top speed and crashed into Meredith's legs. Derek chuckled as he shut the door. Meredith picked him up in her arms and hugged him tightly. He saw Derek and his bright blue eyes went wide. He held out his chubby little arms towards his father. Meredith gladly handed him over.

Derek kissed the top of his head and then breathed him in. He paused when he realized Michael smelled like sweat and dirt.

"What have you been doing today?" He asked him.

"We have been working in the backyard." Carolyn said, pausing with Ellis in the doorway of the living room.

"What were you doing in the backyard?" Meredith asked.

"Planting a garden." Carolyn informed her.

"A garden? I'm a doctor, not Farmer Dell. I don't do gardens."

"Oh phish. All you have to do is water it every day. It is not rocket science."

Meredith looked at Derek for help. As did his mother.

"I'm going to go put Michael down for a nap. Don't you want to take a nap, Buddy?" He asked Michael.

"No." Michael shook his head.

"Traitor." Derek muttered. "Too bad. You are taking one after I give you a bath. I am just going to go upstairs." He beat a quick retreat.

Meredith was going to kill him.

She looked back at the mothers. They smirked at her and practically pulled her into the living room and onto the couch.

"So?" Ellis asked.

"So, what?" She asked.

"Don't you play stupid with me, young lady. Now spill."

"Meredith you don't have to tell us a thing." Carolyn said loudly.

"Thank you." Meredith said gratefully.

Carolyn looked towards the stairs and then whipped her head around.

"Oh, I only said that until I made sure Derek was out of the way. Spill."

"What do you want to know?" Meredith asked. "We talked and talked some more. We slept, we walked, we came home. The end."

"We want to know about the make up sex." Carolyn said matter of fact.

"Excuse me?" Meredith choked.

"Don't look at me like that. I know what sex is. I have had five kids. A stork didn't just leave them on the doorstep. Do you think I would have been pregnant that much if I didn't like having it?" She responded.

"Oh, ew." Meredith groaned.

"I remember sex. I loved sex. Not with your father, mind you. He was a boring lay. But Richard. That man was a sex god. He did this thing once in the shower with the bending…"

"Oh god, please for the love of all that is holy, don't finish that sentence." Meredith begged, jumping up.

"You didn't come from a cabbage patch Meredith." Ellis said, in the same tone Carolyn had used.

"You know, I am just going to go and…um…water the garden." She said.

"Is that what you kids call it these days?" Carolyn said.

"You two are sick individuals." Meredith hissed as she flew up the stairs, their laughter following her. She darted into the bathroom and slammed the door, leaning against it. Derek turned away from Michael and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Your mother…my…mother…sex…and…oh god." She stammered.

"Huh?"

"The mothers were down there giving me sex advice. Me! I don't to hear that shit!" She exclaimed.

Derek pondered this.

"Did you learn anything good?" He asked.

Her eyes widened.

"You are disgusting. It is like the invasion of the sex pod people here. Ugh. I am going…somewhere…anywhere but here."

She stormed out of the bathroom towards the safe haven of her room.

"You know you love me." He yelled after her.

That she did.


	17. Chapter 17

"She's moving here?" Meredith asked…for the fifteenth time.

Derek sighed as he switched lanes. Ellis had broken the news to them over breakfast that she was permanently moving to Seattle to be closer to Michael. She was also going to be a part-time consultant for Seattle Grace.

"That is what she said." He told her.

"But, why?"

He chuckled.

"To be closer to you and Michael. You are the only family she has left." He reminded her.

"Yeah, but I have lived just fine without her all these years. I just don't get why now." She said.

Derek took her hand and held it over the console.

"Think about it. She can spend time with Michael while we spend some quality time with each other. That way we don't have to shove him in a daycare eighteen hours a day. And you know my mom is going to visit her best friend often."

"Yeah because her son and grandson isn't enough of a reason." Meredith said wryly. Derek's mom visited every six weeks and called daily as it was.

"You can never have too much family Meredith." He said.

He let go of her hand to park in his space. He turned to her.

"You know people are going to stare." He reminded her.

"Why is that? Oh, that's right, because I ran crying from the hospital a week ago. And I cursed you out loudly for everyone to hear the day before that. And I pulled the twatwaffle's hair the day before that. Yeah there will be a lot of staring." She smiled.

He brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it.

"Let them stare." He said huskily.

"Yeah, let them. Let's go." She said, opening her door and slipping out of the car. They met at the front of the black Lexus and their hands automatically entwined. They walked into the hospital and caught the elevator.

Weirdly enough, they were alone. He glanced at her and smiled, then focused on the steel panels in front of him.

She looked up at the digital display. They were in between L and 1 now. They were going to 4.

Worked for her.

She launched herself onto him, her lips latched on to his and she shoved her tongue into his mouth aggressively. He met her in force and enthusiasm, his hands plunging into her hair. She forgot where she was and immediately started to unbutton his blue shirt. The one that matched his eyes. She just knew he wore it to drive her crazy. It worked. His hands had slipped under her sweater and rubbed languidly up and down her back. He reached around the front to grasp her breast through her bra. Her response was to shove him into the wall. His hands buried into her hair and held her there while he plundered her mouth, over and over again. One of her legs wrapped around his waist and she ground her pelvis into his.

He moaned…a keening needy moan.

"Bleach! I need bleach!" A voice shrieked behind them.

Meredith broke away from Derek and looked over his shoulder, smiling brightly.

"Hi Cristina. Miss me?" She asked casually like she wasn't wrapped around her fiancé at the moment.

"You? Yes. Your public displays of affection and his obviously hard to cover erections? No. Now, while every sicko behind me has enjoyed this moment of soft core porn, could you please dismount McDreamy and get to work?" She said.

Meredith sighed.

"If I must." She smiled apologetically at Derek, who was embarrassed at the size of his erection that people would be seeing. Cause like Cristina said, it is hard to cover up a hard on of that size and proportion.

Meredith walked out of the elevator with Derek limping behind her. She saw some nurses eyes go down south.

"Look all you want, but if you touch him, I will touch you. And believe me, none of you want that." She said sweetly.

They averted their eyes quickly and got onto the elevator.

"Possessive now are we?" Cristina asked.

"Yes." Meredith said curtly.

She reached up to kiss Derek goodbye.

"I like it." He said. "That possessiveness. Makes me really hot for you."

"Good. Now take care of your 'little' problem and get to work." She whispered.

He ground into her.

"Does that feel little to you?"

She moaned.

She recovered quickly however.

'Meh, I've had bigger." She said, walking away.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I will get you back for that remark." He promised.

"Looking forward to it." She called after him.

Cristina dragged her away.

"You two make me sick." She growled. "I am surprised you can walk after a week with him."

"We didn't have sex." Meredith confided in her.

Cristina stopped walking and looked at her, then suddenly dragged her into a supply closet.

"Are you serious?" She asked.

"Yes."

"What did you do then?"

"We talked."

"You talked." Cristina repeated.

"Why is that so surprising?" Meredith asked.

"Because you are Meredith and Derek. You two always have sex, everywhere, all the time."

"Yeah well that was part of the problem."

"Too much sex is never a problem." Cristina stated matter of factly.

"It became a habit, with no real meaning behind it. We stopped communicating with each other." Meredith said.

"Let me get this straight. You found him, you apologized, he apologized and you had make up communication?" She said, her expression saying she was completely weirded out.

Meredith laughed.

"Yes." She confirmed.

"I was so hoping for better details than that. You suck." She said, disappointed.

Meredith sighed.

"Not in quite a while." She quipped.

Cristina laughed.

"You made a funny. Nice. Wonder if Derek is laughing as he takes care of his problem." She stated.

"Probably not." Meredith stated. "Oh and get this, Ellis is moving to Seattle and will be working here part time."

"Seriously? Seriously! Hot damn! To learn from the Ellis Grey. I will be unstoppable." She looked at me. "Being friends with you has finally paid off."

I hit her on her arm.

"Hey!" I objected.

"I was kidding….mostly." She said rubbing her arm. "You know I love you more than my luggage."

"You don't have luggage. You borrow mine all the time." Meredith pointed out.

"Okay, so I love you more than your luggage. Whatever."

Meredith laughed as she walked around Cristina to head towards the locker room.

'Hey all." She said greeting her fellow residents.

"How was the all week long, no work all sex vacay?" Izzie asked.

"No sex." Cristina said.

"Were you on your period?" Alex asked.

"No." Meredith hissed.

"Oh does he need Viagra? That happens to guys his age." Izzie empathized.

"By the looks of him this morning I would say that would be a negative." Cristina snorted.

"Then why?" George asked.

"Okay enough about my sex life! Get one of your own!" Meredith exclaimed loudly.

"You wanna hear about mine?" They heard behind them.

Jackson lounged in the doorway with a bunch of other interns.

"This is the resident locker room. What are you deviants doing here?" Cristina yelled.

"You're late." He shrugged.

A look at the clock indeed said they were late.

"Thanks for coming to find us Dr. Avery. And no I don't want to know about your sex life." Meredith said.

They all walked out of the locker room and began rounds.

An hour and a half later, had Jackson and Meredith looking at a MRI.

"That could be the culprit, but that mostly looks like a calcium deposit. Run a Chem 7 and see what comes up on that." Meredith mused.

"You know, I think that it is good that you are working things out with Shepherd."

Meredith looked at Jackson in confusion.

"He loves you. You can see it every time he looks at you. Same with you. You might have had trouble communicating it, but it was always there. Makes me kind of jealous. I am thirty one and I still haven't found her."

"Found who?"

"The one. So don't take it for granted. You have what everyone wants. And so it is good that you worked it out. I will get these labs back to you as soon as I can." He said, as he left.

Maybe he wasn't so stupid after all.


	18. Chapter 18

"You want me to do what?" Cristina asked incredulously.

Derek just stood there waiting for her agreement.

"How do you expect me to do that?" She asked, when he remained silent.

"You are a resourceful, intelligent woman. I am sure you can figure it out." He said confidently.

She looked at him suspiciously.

'Then why don't you do it?" She asked.

"Are you kidding me? She guards that thing like Fort Knox." It was his turn to be incredulous.

"Then why do you think I would have better luck?"

"You have no reason to steal it?" He said, grasping at straws and hoping she bought it.

Awareness washed over her face.

"You don't want her to bitch you out if she catches you." She stated.

"Yes." His shoulders slumped. "Please say you will do it. Puh lease." He begged. "If she catches you, she will forgive you. She will torture me until the end of time."

She just looked at him.

"Do you want me down on my knees?" He asked.

She looked around at the crowded hallway.

"That would be a no." She said. She looked at his pleading face and sighed. "Fine. I will do it." He opened his mouth to say something but she put a hand out to stop him. "If she catches me and goes all ape shit, I will shave your head bald. B-A-L-D. Bald. Understood?"

He nodded emphatically. "Bald, yes, fine. Just, I need it by six."

"I am supposed to infiltrate Fort Knox in five hours? You idiot. You couldn't have given me more time?" She asked.

"How much time do you think you need?" He asked impatiently.

"Five days would have been good."

"You just have to swipe it when she is not looking. How hard can it be?" He asked.

"How hard can it be?" Cristina mocked as she peered slowly and covertly into the locker room. "Sneaking into rooms, looking over my shoulder to do this stupid shit for a person that annoys the fuck out of me. I am Cristina Yang, Cardio God, not Cristina Yang, Super Spy."

"Why are you talking to yourself?'

Cristina jumped and whirled around to see her best friend of over two years looking at her questioningly. Cristina didn't come here to Seattle looking for friends. She came here looking for competition. Instead she had bonded with this seemingly shy woman and had never looked back. Meredith was her person, her confidant, the yin to her yang…oh shit, you all get the point. She would do this for her, to her, so she could be happy.

"No reason." She hedged.

Meredith nodded and continued on to her locker. Cristina watched her like a hawk, covertly of course. Meredith pulled her hair up into a ponytail and then winded it into a bun. She only did that if she was about to scrub in.

YES!

"Scrubbing in?" She asked.

Meredith looked at her sideways.

"Yes. You can't have it. My arm." She said possessively.

"Does the arm have a heart?" Cristina asked.

"No."

'Then why would I want it?" She pointed out.

"You have a point. Yes I am scrubbing in on a severed arm with Sloan. And I need to go now. We start in twenty." Meredith went to leave and Cristina followed her.

Meredith realized halfway to the OR that Cristina was trailing behind her.

"Did you need something?" She asked.

"No."

"Then why are you following me?" Meredith asked.

"Can't I spend time with my best friend?" Cristina asked.

"No." Meredith said.

Cristina huffed.

"Well, I am. So get over it already." She snarked.

"Okay! Bitchy." Meredith said, arriving at the scrub room. "Well, I have to go work now. I will see you later?' She asked.

"Yes." Cristina said.

Meredith gave her another look and walked into the room.

Cristina peeked into the little window and watched as her friend took her most prized possession and pinned it on her scrub jacket, giving it a little pat.

She had it in the bag.

Meredith rolled her neck as she tried to work the kinks out. It was a four hours tedious surgery but with luck, the arm would be fully functional in six months.

"You did good Grey." Mark said as they scrubbed out.

"Thanks."

"Um…Mer? Why is Yang peering into the window like Tinkerbell on crack?"

Meredith looked and shrugged.

"She is acting all clingy and weird today."

Mark nodded.

"Well have fun with that." He said, banging the door into Cristina inadvertently as he left. He shook his head and walked off.

He wanted no part of what was about to go down. Yang had some definite balls.

"Not that I am complaining, but what is the deal?" Meredith asked, as they entered the locker room.

"I told you, I just want to spend some time with you. You were gone two weeks ago and I missed you." She said.

"I missed you too." She hugged Cristina.

"Yeah, whatever. Drink?" Cristina asked as she pulled away and offered Meredith a cold can drink.

"Yeah." Meredith popped the top and carbonated drink went everywhere. "Shit! Shake it up much?" She scowled.

"I'm sorry. Let's get you out of that wet top." Cristina yanked Meredith's shirt off of her without another word or warning, jerking Meredith about.

"Ouch!" Meredith said, as something snagged her hair.

"Sorry. I will just go put this in the laundry. Bye." She darted out of the room like the hounds of hell were on her heels.

Meredith stood there, with sticky wet liquid dripping down her chest and pants, baffled my what had just occurred. She looked ruefully down at herself. Guess she would be taking a shower.

Cristina walked casually up to Derek.

"4:22pm. I think that is a record." She said, dropping the engagement ring into his palm. "You better make this good. She deserves it."

Derek smiled after her and then his grin widened at the platinum ring sitting in the palm of his hand. He was going to do this right for once and give her everything her heart desired.


	19. Chapter 19

Where the hell is it?" Meredith wailed, as she looked through her locker and her pockets. She even looked in her shoes.

It was gone.

Just…gone!

She sat down heavily on the bench and tried to control her breathing. In and out, in and out. Okay.

She went through her routine that day. She had dressed in her scrubs, the ring still securely on her finger. She had done rounds, gotten an assignment, scrubbed in, put her ring on the safety pin on her scrub top…then what?

She had come back in, spoke to Cristina, who had given her a shaken up drink, and then Meredith had taken off her shirt and given it to Cristina…

Meredith gasped.

Who had offered to take it to the laundry!

Shit. Fuck. Damn!

Her ring was probably in a massive washing machine with several other uniforms. And if someone was dishonest than she would never see her one of a kind engagement ring again.

Meredith felt tears swell in her eyes but she sniffed them back and headed down to the basement to see if she could find her top and hopefully unwashed.

An hour later, Meredith had found her top, safety pin included, but no ring.

It was gone.

Derek was going to be so upset.

Her phone rang just then and she withdrew it from her pocket.

Speaking of the devil.

She cleared her throat and answered it.

"Hello?" She cringed at how off her voice sounded.

"Hey." She could practically see his grin.

"Hi." She said unnecessarily.

"When you get off, I need to you to do something for me. Something came up and I can't do it."

"Okay?"

"Can you go by the trailer and get my dark blue suit? We have company coming tomorrow and the Chief wants me to look appropriate, whatever that means."

"Isn't that in our closet at home?" She asked.

"No. I…um…moved it to the trailer when we were having…problems." He now sounded weird.

"Of course I will. Um…Derek…there's something I have to tell you."

"Thanks so much Mer. See you later. Love you." He hung up abruptly.

She looked at her phone in confusion and then set it aside and put her head in her hands.

She would just have to tell him later.

Two hours later found her getting wearily out of her car and entering the dark and quiet trailer. Well, it was supposed to be dark.

She froze upon opening the door. There were at least fifty little votive candles on various surfaces. She stood in confusion until she saw the note on the table with a bottle of champagne.

_Here is to making all of your dreams come true._

Meet me outside in our place.

D

She grabbed the bottle of champagne and ventured outside. It was then that she saw the path of candles that were leading to their cliff. She walked slowly until she reached the clearing.

She gasped.

For there, in front of her, were hundreds of candles, all flickering in the darkness. And standing in the middle of it, was her Derek.

He stood there, head cocked, legs parted, hands in his coat pocket, crooked smile on his face, eyes twinkling. He had never looked more beautiful to her than in that moment.

Her feet finally remembered how to walk but he held a hand out for her to stop, so she did.

"So I was thinking that this would be the kitchen…and this the living room with French doors leading out to our deck that overlooked our cliff. And this right here could be Michael's room…and over here our next child's room…and over here the next…"

She raised her eyebrows.

He grinned sheepishly.

"You get the picture. I was thinking that our room would be all the way over here because I figured that we would have less chance of our children needing therapy if they couldn't hear us."

She laughed softly.

"See, we talked about what we wanted our life to be, what you dreamed off. I didn't give it to you."

She opened her mouth to protest.

"No, hear me out. I have hired a contractor and an architect. We can have a house up in eight months, maybe less depending on the weather. I want to start fresh. I want to start over. To do that, I need to start keeping my word."

He extended his hand out to her and she walked forward and took it. He led her into the 'living room', took a deep breath and kneeled down in front of her.

"One of those promises that I made to you was to make you mine…legally. Meredith Elizabeth Grey, I promise to love you every moment of forever. I promise to always take care of you, to always listen to you, to help you raise our children to be good people, to never take you for granted. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

He withdrew a black velvet box and opened it up .

Her hands flew to her mouth.

"My ring! I thought…how did you…" She smiled and shook her head.

"Cristina." They said at the same time.

"You didn't have to do this. I love our life." She protested.

"Mer, I am kind of out on a limb here." He reminded her.

She quickly slipped down to her knees and pulled him tightly to her.

"Yes. My answer will always be yes." She said, leaning back and peppering his face with kisses. He fell back on the ground against her onslaught and took her with him.

She giggled as he took position over her.

"Now, for the finale of the evening…" He said, grinding against her.

"Is that anyway to talk to an engaged woman?" She mocked.

"Yes." He said.

He kissed her, slowly, languidly until she had to catch her breath.

"You know, we are not technically engaged until you give me my ring." She pointed out.

He whipped the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger.

"There, right where it belongs." He said softly. "I was thinking September for the wedding."

"That sounds perfect." She agreed.

He kissed her again and for a few minutes they got lost in each other…until Seattle happened.

"Crap!" She exclaimed as the first fat raindrops hit her face.

They scurried up as the bottom dropped out and they were instantly soaked. They ran for shelter and a minute later they entered the warm trailer.

"At least you don't have to worry about blowing all those candles out." Meredith said.

"Yeah a fire would have been bad." He agreed.

"Yeah you have enough of a fire to put out." She purred.

"Oh yeah, and who's might that be?" He smirked.

"Mine." She whispered against his lips.

"I have just the 'hose' to put it out." He said.

"Never say that again." She laughed.

"Yeah that was cheesy." He agreed.

"Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and fuck me." She demanded.

"My pleasure."

She released his neck she was currently sucking on.

"Mine too."

He smiled and led them to their bed, in their trailer, on their land, mere feet from their future home, that they would live in with Michael and their future family.

And he showed her exactly how much he loved her.


	20. Chapter 20

"Meredith! What are you doing?" Izzie screeched.

"My ears." She complained, burying her face deeper into her Derek scented pillow.

"It's ten o'clock! Why are you still sleeping? We have to be ready by three!" She continued to yell.

Meredith rolled over and looked at her shrewdly.

"Are you suggesting that it is going to take five hours to make me look good enough to get married?"

Izzie opened her mouth to respond but luckily for her, Cristina planted her hand over it, saving Izzie from having her hair ripped out.

"Of course not Mer. She just doesn't want you to be late, right Izzie?" Cristina asked.

Izzie just pulled away from Cristina and started fluttering around the room, gathering up every thing she thought we would need.

Her makeover from her intern year flashed before her eyes and she prayed to God that she didn't have any hot wax. She wanted to hurt there after tonight, but not because of that.

It had been over a year since Derek had proposed for the second time. The house was finished, and beautiful. It had taken longer than the estimated time given but the weather in Seattle had been particularly gruesome this year, putting them behind schedule. But they prevailed and three months ago, they had moved into their new home.

Just in time for the birth of their daughter, Lexie.

She was a surprise, just like Michael had been. She had arrived in a quiet timely fashion, her blue eyes taking in everything calmly. Unlike her brother before her, she had slept through the night immediately and she looked like Meredith more than Derek. She had his hair color and his eyes but everything else was Meredith…in looks that was. Her disposition was all Derek.

"Ha, found it!" Izzie squealed.

Oh shit.

"Put the wax down slowly and no one gets hurt." Meredith warned.

"But Mer, you don't want to be all…un smooth on your wedding night, do you?"

"Derek has been having sex with me for almost four years now. He knows what it looks like and furthermore, he has no complaints. Now. Put. It. Away. Or so help me God Iz, I will wax your eyebrows clean off while you are sleeping." She threatened.

She gingerly put down the jar and moved on to the makeup bag.

"Do you have any aversions to lipstick while we are at it?" She asked.

"Nope. Just keep away from my snatch and we will be alright." Meredith quipped.

She turned away mumbling what sounded like, 'Sucks all the fun out of everything'.

Meredith just shared a smile with a quiet Cristina.

A flurry of activity was abundant in Meredith's house in the next three hours. Makeup, hair and nails being the top priorities of the day. The house was riddled with females and shrill voices and squeals. Seems that weddings tended to make females giddy, Meredith thought as she rubbed her temples.

"Here."

She looked up at Cristina, who held out some ibuprofen to her.

"Thanks."

"You are being quiet today. None of your usual snarkiness." Meredith commented as Cristina sat down next to Meredith, who was waiting to put her dress on.

"I don't know what to say." Cristina admitted.

"About what?" Meredith asked.

"Anything."

"Do you think I am making a mistake?" Meredith asked. Nothing would stop her from marrying Derek but she wanted to hear Cristina out.

"No, I honestly don't. This is exactly how things should be. I just don't have any words of wisdom for you. This is something I never imagined for myself and now that you are here, in this moment, I just feel like you are going to get all grown up and forget about me. Selfish, huh?" She laughed a little.

"I could never forget about you. You are my person. That doesn't change just because I decided to get married and pop out two kids." Meredith said as she threw her arms around Cristina and squeezed.

"Ugh. Okay you are choking me." Cristina complained. She looked at Meredith. "I love you whore."

"I love you too whore."

"Such a lovely sentiment on such a lovely day." Ellis chimed in, standing in the doorway with Carolyn.

"Hey Moms." Meredith said easily.

"I am going to reign in Izzie. Wish me luck." Cristina said, grimacing a little. She left us to our moment.

"So this is it." Carolyn said sitting by Meredith.

"Yep. Seems like it took forever to get here and yet it seems time has flown." Meredith mused.

"Yeah it is that way sometimes. That is how I felt watching you grow up. Seemed like one minute you were five and the next your grown." Ellis paused. "Oh wait, that was just because I was a workaholic. Never mind." She said ruefully.

Meredith grasped her mother's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. Since moving back to Seattle two years ago, they had become closer than Meredith ever thought possible. She was a great-grandmother to the children and a wonderful confidant to Meredith. Carolyn stayed about six months out of the year so Meredith and Derek had a great support system.

"It is almost time so we just wanted to give you something. It takes care of the old and the blue and your dress it new and you are borrowing trouble by marrying my son so we are all set."

Meredith giggled.

Carolyn took a white box out of her purse and handed it to Ellis.

"This is your daughter so you should do this." She told her.

"Like with your engagement ring, this a joint family thing. We wanted it to be sentimental, to signify that we are all one family now."

"God help you." Carolyn chuckled.

I opened the box and gasped. There within lied two intricate silver hair combs with sapphire inlays.

"They're so pretty." She sniffled.

"These hair combs were Derek's Grandma Maloney's and the sapphires are your grandmother Harrell's. We just wanted to give you something you could pass down to Lexie."

Meredith sniffled again and then her eyes welled up with tears as she hugged both of her mother's; the one who gave her life and the one who helped breathe it back into her.

"You're crying!" Izzie cried out in dismay. She looked at the damage to my makeup she had painstakingly applied only an hour earlier. "I mean I expected to have to do a touch up after the wedding, but before?" She glared at the Moms.

"Shut it Dr. Model." Ellis said curtly.

Meredith stifled a laugh and grabbed Izzie by the arm.

"Come on before bled is shed at my wedding." She said.

"Ooh, surgery." Cristina chimed in eagerly.

Meredith shot her a glare, sitting down and putting herself at Izzie's mercy once again.

"Let's get this over with. I have someone waiting for me."

***

"So everything is okay, right? You are not nervous and your feet are warm and all that crap?" Cristina asked as they got ready to walk. "I mean I have my car out there so if you want to we can throw the kids over our shoulders and make a run for it." She offered.

Carolyn threw her a dirty look before walking out with Ellis to light the unity candles.

"I'm fine Cris. Everything is perfect. I am marrying Derek in less than five minutes. I don't need your car, my kids can stay where they are, I don't need my ass kicked down the aisle. Now turn around and concentrate on not falling flat on your face in those ridiculous heels that Izzie put you in." Meredith said calmly.

"You let her plan this thing." Cristina muttered.

"Have you ever tried telling Izzie no?" Meredith shot back.

"I am standing right here, you know?" Izzie said.

"We know." Meredith and Cristina said in unison.

"Shut up and smile." Izzie said through clenched teeth as she began her walk.

"See you up there." Cristina said, squeezing her hand tightly and then she was gone.

Meredith took a deep breath and started the walk down the long isle, alone. Alex and George had both offered to walk her down the aisle as had Richard and her mother but she had made it here practically by herself and she wanted to signify leaving her single life and joining her life with Derek's…permanently.

She reached him and with a gesture as old as time, she offered him her hand to take, which he did with love shining in his eyes and a bright smile on his face.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…"

***

Hours after they had kissed their first kiss as man and wife, danced their first dance, cut the cake, threw the cake and the garter, listened to their wedding party's speeches, posed for countless photos, they swayed back and forth with each other. The kids had already passed out and were sleeping soundly in their beds with Derek's oldest niece, Amber, watching them. Only a few people still loitered.

They didn't notice any of it. They were lost in each other.

"So Mrs. Shepherd, how are you enjoying married life so far?" He asked her, his voice husky.

"I am loving it. You?"

"Same. Did you ever think we would get here?" He asked.

She pretended to think.

"Not when I first met your moody ass. But yeah, I had hoped." She said.

"I am so grateful you never gave up on me." He said, dipping her suddenly and bringing her back up.

She giggled.

'Yeah I am something sticky that won't blow off.' She shrugged as he twirled her.

"I like sticky, I am all for the sticky."

"That sounded vaguely dirty." She said, her face scrunched up in an adorable pout.

"There was nothing vague about it. What do you say we get out of here and walk fifty feet over to our house and go to bed and not sleep at all?" He suggested.

"I say yes." She agreed.

He looked at her seriously.

"I am so glad you said yes…every time. I wouldn't be here without you." He said.

'You never have to ever worry about being without me. I am here forever." She promised.

He grasped her hand tightly and started walking her to their home.

"Forever. I like that sound of that."

She did too.

**Comment for the last time. Thanks!**

**Special thanks to Stephanie for writing this lovely fanfiction**


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